Midnight Boy Talks
by BoardApprenticeD
Summary: Our favorite male titans are confused about many things.So that's what friends are for, right? BBRae, RS, slight CyBee.
1. Beast Boy Bares His Soul

Robin walked into the kitchen with a strange expression on his face. He stumbled over to the refrigerator and poured himself a small glass of orange juice, not caring that it was only one o'clock in the morning and he was the only one awake in the whole tower—

"Hey, Robin." Called a quiet voice from the table.

The boy wonder jumped slightly and turned around. Beast Boy was there sitting on a chair, also with a glass of orange juice, looking vaguely amused with something.

"Couldn't sleep, Beast Boy?"

Beast Boy grunted in response, then smirked. "Happy _dreams_, Boy Blunder?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Having good senses makes you know some things that others don't, Robin. For one thing, I heard you rush into the bathroom a few minutes ago, and when you came out…" Beast Boy leaned in, moving in for the kill. "You were in a new pair of pants."

Robin managed not to flinch. "I still don't know what you're talking about, Beast Boy."

"Is that so? Hmm… you're saying that the soft moaning of Starfire's name from your room was also a figment of my overactive imagination?"

"I did? Wait! No, wait! Wait! That came out wrong…" Robin trailed off a few inaudible words.

"Ahh, Robbie-poo… it's perfectly natural for boys your age! I mean, having wet dre—"

"OKAY! SO I DID! SO WHAT!"

"See? Admitting that wasn't so hard. Dude, It's a good thing that there's a security camera in here. I'll just remind Cyborg to check the records on this particular time in the morning, so I can get that angry outburst plus confession from the boy wonder himself!"

"If you do that, I swear I'll tell the team that I saw a _green_ dog humping a blue garbage can last week."

Pause.

"You hit really hard, Robin." Beast Boy was now a very, very pale and sickly green.

"It's my job, Beast Boy."

"…" Beast Boy slumped into his chair with a dejected look on his features.

"Anyway… what's keeping you from getting some sleep? You do know that there's a training session tomorrow, right? And you seem kinda… different." Robin adjusted his mask and looked over to Beast Boy, waiting for his answer.

"Good observation, boy wonder."

Robin refused to stop and continued on. "For one thing, you're not nearly cracking any jokes. And you're using longer words than you normally use."

"Now you're insulting my vocabulary?"

"No. Just stating the obvious." Reaching into the nearest cupboard, Robin pulled out a bag of chips and tossed it over to Beast Boy. "Eat up; it looks like we're going to be spending some time here."

"What? Dude, you said yourself that there's a training session tomorrow!"

"Friends mean more than training, Beast Boy. There's something wrong with you, and I intend to find out."

"Dude, I really don't think I'll like where this'll be going."

"Of course you're not. Because I'm going to bring in Raven."

"Now what does she have to do with this?"

"Everything, I suppose?" Robin replied with a grin.

"What do you mean everything? She ignores me all day, never laughs at my jokes, steamrollers over me when I attempt to get her to join me in something…" Beast Boy then realized how much he sounded like a lovesick high school student. "Damn. That came out wrong."

"Jeez, Beast Boy, I know what you're going through. Girls are cruel to people like us."

"Why? I mean, hey, you must be the hottest—"

"What do you think of Starfire's choice of clothing?" Robin asked calmly.

"Umm… revealing?" Beast Boy half joked, hoping to humor the whole subject away. What caught him off guard was the response.

"Exactly. What about Raven?"

"I know she wears it for practical uses, but that leotard she wears does show off her legs, and—" Beast Boy stopped, knowing he had said too much.

"Exactly. And they live with us. Every single second, they're just a few feet away. And—"

"And you make us wear our uniforms every single second of the day… and for us, it just happens to be FRIKIN' SPANDEX! Do you know how tight those things are, and how noticeable it is when they stretch in places not to be stretched? Oh goodness me, I've forgotten that you wear spandex as well! Does it mean you actually enjoy showing off your manhood?"

"That's not what I was aiming for!" Robin shouted back

"Do you know why I crack corny jokes or do stupid things around her? To make her mad and chase after me? Well, I do it because I need the fear to get rid of my unwholesome thoughts! Being seen having these thoughts would be bad enough! But you do know that I'm part animal, right? If I don't get rid of those thoughts, I might just push her against the wall and purr into her ear and—"

Silence.

"You know Beast Boy… that sounds like a turn on to some girls to me."

Beast Boy just groaned.

* * *

So? What do you people think? First attempt at a TT fanfic, so reviews would be nice! 


	2. Beast Boy Strikes Back

_The next night..._

Robin calmly sipped his glass of milk. _Anytime now_… He thought, adjusting his mask. His keen ears heard a small creak. _Three, two, one_…

The common room doors slid open with a hiss, and a very dejected looking Beast Boy stumbled in. Scratching his hair, the changeling made his way to the refrigerator with a small groan. Then, as if he had smelled something suspicious, the green titan raised his nose into the air and sniffed.

"Hair gel." He breathed. Beast Boy turned around slowly, already knowing who was behind him.

"Hey, Beast Boy."

"Damn it Robin, can't you leave me alone?" muttered Beast Boy as he poured himself some soy milk.

"We could have finished our little chat last night if you hadn't decided to run out of the kitchen and lock yourself in your room."

"Listen here, Boy Blunder. Keep your overlong nose out of my business and keep your obsessions to Slade, 'k? I have lots of blackmail material."

Robin stiffened slightly at Slade's name but waved it away. "I'm over him now. And I don't think that any blackmail material of yours would be nearly enough to topple me."

"You sure about that?" Beast Boy rushed out of the room like he had an overdose of sugar. Moments later, he returned with a laptop. The changeling wasted no time in turning it on and going through his files.

"Okay, Boy Wonder… what do you think about these?" Beast Boy called up a dozen photos and turned the computer around for Robin to see.

Robin struggled to keep his mouth from dropping. They were pictures of the items in his most personal drawer. A Starfire picture here, a Starfire picture there… and next to all of them, there was a bra that looked suspiciously like one of Starfire's. Beast Boy's bad mood seemed to have lessened quite a bit and he was staring cheerily at Robin.

Robin put on a poker face and turned the laptop back to Beast Boy. "You framed me. It doesn't mean anything."

"Ohhh? Then what about… this?" Beast Boy clicked on another file, which had a small video in it. Laughing like an idiot, the changeling started to play the video.

Robin leaned closer to the screen with a frown. What the hell was it? All he could see was apparently the video camera was moving from Beast Boy's room into the corridors, stopping directly in front of his room. The video did a small close-up on the letters on the door.

ROBIN

Robin was sweating, though he didn't know why.

"As you can see," Beast Boy's recorded voice came out from the laptop and echoed in the empty room. "it is a fine day in Titan's Tower, and one certain Boy Wonder seems to be enjoying himself _immensely_." Beast Boy's recorded voice seemed to be struggling to remain serious and formal. Grinning, the real Beast Boy turned the volume up.

"_Oh, __Starfire__…__ oh, call my name, __Starfire__…__ahh__…__ohhh__…"_ The voice was slightly muffled by the closed door, but it could be heard easily.

Beast Boy's recorded voice once again came out from the laptop. "That's all for today, ladies and gents. We don't want it to get any more… graphic…" The video stopped, having come to its end.

Beast Boy burst into laughter and looked over to Robin. "Now how's that, ol' Boy Wonder?"

Robin looked like he was going to die right there. Hell, he looked even paler than Raven.

"It was… forged?" Robin's weak voice could hardly be heard.

"Nah. You can still check the security cameras. I was there, and you were inside. Yeah, it was three months ago, but no one really cares about that, eh? Oh, and don't think about smashing this laptop, I have copies of this hidden everywhere in the tower."

"But, if it was real, why didn't you show it to the others? D-did you?" Robin's voice was filled with mortal dread.

"Believe me, I wanted to. But I'm not that bad a person, and I'm sure as heck that you and Starfire would come after me if I did it."

Robin merely looked glum at this point. "Starfire wouldn't go after you. She wouldn't understand what I was doing, and she wouldn't understand what I want to do with her!"

Beast Boy's eyes gleamed. "Ah, so this is what it's about! Easy, you just buy the nearest copy of _Deep Throat_ and give it to her for a birthday present!"

"And I won't dare kiss her again!"

"Hmm. You have a good point."

"And we're role models, Beast Boy! I can't be seen buying that kind of stuff!"

"Easily solved. You go in with a giant hooded sweat shirt, put your hands in your pockets to fully conceal your arms, and not even Batman would recognize you!"

"Beast Boy, if I went in there like that they'd call the cops right away."

"Oh yah, that outfit is too much crook-like. How 'bout a hockey mask? Y'know, the white one with all the holes?"

"Do you want me to bring a chainsaw in as well? Jeez, that thing spells out 'psycho' to anyone that sees me."

"Oh yeah… well, we could always get Cyborg. His system could hack into any porn site on the net!"

"You actually want Cyborg to know about this? And I'm not letting him get a virus again."

"Dude, you're cutting off options to your Starfire. Are you sure you don't want to just stroll into BlockBusters and—"

"AHHHHH!!!!" Robin ran out of the common room and locked his door with multiple locks.

Beast Boy blinked. "I actually acted like that last night?"

------------------------

Reviews! Woah, I actually got ten on the first chapter!


	3. Girl Trouble

Beast Boy sat at the kitchen table grimly and looked over to the clock that was hanging on the wall. One o'clock. Robin would be arriving anytime now.

The common room doors slid open and Robin stepped in, pale as a sheet of paper. The Boy Wonder took a seat next to Beast Boy and stared silently at the table as though he was trying to bore a hole in it with his gaze.

_Flashback__---------------------_

It was morning again. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and two certain male titans were still nowhere to be seen.

"Friend Raven? Why hasn't Robin and friend Beast Boy joined us in the breaking of the fast?"

"It's 'breakfast', Starfire. And you're right, this is quite… unusual. Beast Boy I can understand, but Robin?"

The doors slid open in response and two very sleepy looking titans trudged into the kitchen with their eyes half closed. Mumbling quietly to himself, Beast Boy passed Raven and smiled. "Morning, Star."

Robin grinned sleepily and muttered a quiet, "Morning, Raven." to a very confused Starfire.

"Robin? Beast Boy? What's the matter with you two?" A small drop of concern leaked out from Raven's normally emotionless voice.

Robin and Beast Boy's eyes cracked opened slightly more, and they finally clearly saw the two people standing in front of them.

The next thing they knew was that they were running towards their rooms, screaming at the top of their lungs all the way.

"That was freaky, yes?"

"Indeed… Beast Boy I can understand, _but Robin?_"

_End Flashback__------------------_

"We acted like complete idiots." Beast Boy summed it up quite nicely.

"Talking about them in the dead of the night like we did was bound to leave some guilty thoughts." Replied Robin, who was searching in the cupboards for something to eat.

"Yeah, but we totally _freaked out, _Robin."

"That we did." Muttered Robin, who looked as if he had other things on his mind.

"Look, I could have done that alone and no one would of thought it strange. _But Robin? _Jesus, you really screwed up."

"And so you're saying that it's all my fault?"

"Dude, no! I'm just saying that, hey, you've already got Starfire, for god's sake! So you want to sleep with her, big deal! Look at me! Mine has 'TOTALLY HOPELESS CASE' taped on the front of her! At least you get to kiss your girl!"

"Beast Boy, I have to tell you something." Robin cleared his throat, and pulled on his collar. "I… I… kissed Raven today."

Silence.

"Good one, Robin. But to be one the safe side…" Beast Boy leaned closer to him, looking eerily calm. "Tell me." Beast Boy's hands tightened on the table. "That you are." Beast Boy's voice became a mere hiss. "_Joking._"

"I couldn't stop myself!" Screamed Robin frantically. "Starfire knocked on my door and she showed me her new clothes which were extremely hot and I gaped and ran out of the room into Raven, and… I couldn't FRIKIN' help myself!"

Beast Boy roared like a lion and tackled the Boy Wonder to the ground. Moving fast, Robin slid out of the changelings grip and immediately stood up, trying to escape; but a large tail appeared out of nowhere and tripped him, making him stumble.

As Beast Boy's lightning fast attacks came, the only logical thing that Robin could think of was that he trained his fellow teammate _far too well_. Robin was skilled, yes, but with his animal genes, Beast Boy was both faster and stronger, attacking with an animalistic rage. As Robin ducked under a punch and hurled Beast Boy across the room, he wondered how the hell he got himself into this.

Two metallic hands suddenly clamped around his arms. Robin's eyes widened. "Sla—"

"No, it's Cy!" Beast Boy had now stood up and was looking in fear at the person behind Robin.

"Yep, it's me." Cyborg walked out of the shadows and looked at the quivering pair. "Now, I just wanted to check on you two down here, and what do I find? A death match between two of my best friends! What the hell were you thinking!"

Beast Boy looked down at his feet, disgusted at himself. "Sorry, Rob. Animal genes."

"That's okay, Beast Boy. I would of done the same thing in your position."

"Okay then! Now you two better talk up. I missed the part in why you two began the fight when I was coming downstairs."

Beast Boy was speechless. "Missed…?"

"Missed?" Robin repeated, an oh-I'm-hoping-it's-not-true look on his face.

"Yeah, I caught the first two episodes on the security cameras this morning. After Star and Rae told me about that incident in the morning, I decided to check on what made you two so sleepy all of the sudden. And I have to say it was quite intriguing."

"Jesus…" Beast Boy suddenly leapt forward and kneeled before Cyborg. "Please! In the name of all things holy, don't tell anyone else!"

"Man, BB, I'd love to, but we're friends, right?"

"Right…" muttered Beast boy uncertainly.

Robin then quickly summarized the "Raven Incident" to a very interested Cyborg.

"Mmm… Rob, you are now in some very deep shit. You know that, right?" Cyborg peered over to the very depressed looking boy wonder.

"You're telling me…" Said Robin quietly.

"Now, my advice is that you get another guy to talk to Raven about this whole fiasco and apologize for you, Robin. Because if you go, Raven will most certainly tear you to shreds. I would suggest BB. Raven likes it when he talks deeply and wisely, so most likely she'll listen." Cyborg then turned around and winked at Beast Boy. "And BB would get some alone time with her."

* * *

Sorry about this chap… had to have a chapter that could actually move the whole plot. So less perverted humor now, lots more later. 


	4. Run Like Hell

Robin and Cyborg looked over to the clock. Two o'clock in the morning. Beast Boy was an hour late, which was certainly unusual. Then they heard a slight scuffling.

A mouse scurried over to the table and morphed into a very pale Beast Boy. The changeling sat down on his chair, put his head on the table, and stayed silent.

"Yo, BB! What took you so long? We wanted to know about your talk with Raven!" Cyborg was grinning ear to ear.

"Yeah… I want to know if I'm going to be alive by the end of the week." Robin added.

Beast Boy let out a long breath. "Look Robin, your coast is clear. I talked to Raven and she was quite understanding. She forgives you. Me, on the other hand, may have to buy a cottage in Alaska and stay there for the rest of my miserable, sorrowful, grief filled life."

Robin blinked. "What do you mean? I thought you said she forgave me?"

"I KISSED HER ROBIN! AFTER SHE FORGAVE YOU, I JUST…just… kissed… ran down the hall… stayed in my room…" The changeling broke down and started sobbing.

"But wasn't that a good thing?" asked Cyborg.

"Of course it was… it was the best kiss I had in my entire life! But look, I was just done explaining how boys work and how they can't control themselves sometimes and I FRIKIN' KISSED HER! The sign that says 'TOTALLY HOPELESS CASE' now says, 'BEWARE. PERSON LIKELY TO MURDER YOU'! "

"Man, you are now in some deeper shit than I was in." Muttered Robin, slightly amused, slightly aghast.

"Exactly. So Robin, hand me the tower emergency funds and I'll buy a small cottage in the middle of nowhere to live as an honorary titan. On second thought… nah, I'll just dig a hole in the middle of nowhere and live as a hermit."

"Calm down, Beast Boy. We can find a way out of this."

"Yeah… maybe you can get us to strip you, tie you up and throw you into Raven's room with a whip attached as an apology." Cyborg mimed cracking a whip.

"Cy… this isn't funny…"

"Or you can push her against the wall the next time you see her and purr into her ear…"

"Cyborg! Stop it! That stuff is classified and you know it!"

"What? You said yourself that you wanted to."

"Yeah, Cy's right. I do remember that." Robin threw a small grin at Beast Boy.

"BB, don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" Cyborg said through his bursts of laughter.

"He isn't. You know what?" A shadow detached itself from the wall and formed into a birdlike shape. "Moving to Alaska, becoming a hermit… Beast Boy's got the right idea…" The shadow slowly solidified into a very, very familiar person.

Raven.

"Ohhhh shiiiiiit." Robin backed away from the female titan in horror.

"Run." Breathed Cyborg.

Beast Boy fainted.

"C'mon, gotta get outta here before we get put into the paper shredder!" Cyborg scooped up the unconscious changeling and followed the Boy Wonder behind the couch. A toaster, enveloped in a black aura, whistled past the spot where his head was a second before.

"This isn't good." A few frying pans flew over their heads at an incredibly high speed. The pair huddled even closer to the ground.

"Tell me about it, Rob."

Beast Boy woke up groggily. "What happened?"

A knife flew into a wooden shelf behind him, where it stuck there, quivering.

"Oh. That happened."

"C'mon, Beast Boy, we gotta get out of the tower!"

Beast Boy crouched down closer to the ground. "No."

"What!"

"You heard me. This is my problem, and I'll deal with it. You two try to escape, and I'll distract her."

"BB, that's suicide!"

"She's gonna kill me sooner or later, so better soon than later." Beast Boy nudged them both. "Go!"

Robin glanced back at the changeling. "Take care, Beast boy."

Grimacing, Beast Boy turned into a falcon and flew out of their temporary couch-shelter.

Claws of black energy appeared out of thin air, attempting to grab him. Flying with expert skill, he weaved through the demonic attacks and flew around the room, never stopping.

Meanwhile…

"GO ROBIN! RUN AS IF THE FURY OF HELL WAS AFTER YOU!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'AS IF'!"

After much scrambling, the two titans climbed onto their respective vehicles and managed to speed away from the garage, panting.

Back at the tower, though, things weren't going too well for a certain changeling.

The first thing was that his body was completely encased in crackling black energy. The second thing was that he was in human form now, and was only mere inches away from Raven.

"You perverted little idiot…" hissed Raven, eyes glowing bright white.

Beast Boy closed his eyes and awaited his doom.

So, you could imagine his surprise when arms wrapped around his head and he found soft lips colliding with his. Widening his eyes, he found Raven kissing him furiously. Ah, it was bliss.

When they finally broke apart, gasping for air, Beast Boy did the only thing that seemed logical on that day when logic went out the window:

He bent over to Raven and purred into her ear.

* * *

Strange, I know. But hey, like I said: Logic is out the window. 


	5. One Down, Three to Go

_The next morning__…_

Robin and Cyborg quietly crept into the common room, looking around them the whole way. Yes, no Raven was in sight… but strangely, a certain green teen was sitting on the couch watching TV. Letting out nervous chuckles, they joined Beast Boy on the couch.

"Hey, guys. Never thought you'd be back so late. It's already eleven o'clock, y'know." Beast Boy looked at them with a big smile on his face.

"Yeah, we miscalculated a bit. We were half way to Steel City before we decided to take our chances and turned back. Hey, whatcha watchin'?" Cyborg looked closely at the huge television screen. "The Amazing World of Sexual Diseases? What's wrong with you, man?"

"Huh? Beast Boy looked over at the TV. "That was what I was watching?" Beast Boy shrugged and sat back down on the couch. "Well, Starfire left it on, and I just came over here."

Robin shook his head sadly. "Raven's been really harsh to him."

"You have no idea." Grinning widely, the changeling started flipping through the channels at high speed.

"Yeah. I don't even want to think about what grass stain went through." Cyborg sighed and turned around, bumping into…

Raven.

"Ohhh shiiit." Robin paled.

"Ru—"

"Don't even think about it." Twin tentacles of black energy wrapped themselves around the two terrified titans. "We have a score to settle."

Beast Boy looked over to Raven and smiled. "Aw, Rae, let 'em go. They didn't do much."

Raven sighed and the two energy binds dissipated. "You softie."

Robin was dumbstruck. _Since when did Raven let Beast Boy call her __"__Rae__"_

Cyborg was surprised as well, but for another reason. _S__ince when did Raven change her mind when she was about to __throw someone out the window?_

Beast Boy chuckled and motioned for Raven to come sit next to him. Once Raven sat down, the changeling's arm immediately snaked around her— _holy shit!_

_Since when did Raven let Beast Boy put his arm around her waist!?_

Only one thing was certain: Beast Boy had a lot of explaining to do.

_Later that night__…_

Cyborg and Robin watched as Beast Boy came through the common room doors, whistling merrily. Yes, things were definitely different. Much more different.

Beast Boy sat down at the table cheerily and poured himself a glass of soy milk. "What's up, guys?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT'S UP'? YOU WERE NEARLY MURDERED LAST NIGHT AND NOW YOU'RE COMPLETELY OVERJOYED!"

"Chill, Rob. I'm just happy, that's all!"

"Oh no." Cyborg suddenly realized something. "Raven… she didn't go into your mind and mess with your emotions, did she?"

"Dude, she doesn't need to go into my mind to do that." Beast Boy was still surrounded in an aura of pure joy.

"Then what did she do to you?" Robin leaned forward, masked eyes filled with concern.

"She… she… agreed to go out with me tomorrow!" Beast Boy was laughing hysterically. "I've been waiting for this day for so long…"

Robin and Cyborg looked at each other.

"RAVEN DID WHAT?"

"She agreed to go out with me! I asked, she agreed! And nothing went boom!"

"Man… you are one lucky little grass stain. Good one!" Cyborg slapped him on the back with a grin.

"Yeah, Beast Boy, I feel really good for you. But you had to pick a girlfriend that's so much stronger than you, did you? I shudder to think what would happen if you get her angry." Robin mock shivered and laughed.

"Dude, look who's talking. Remember when Star first came to Earth? You were getting your butt kicked by her before Cyborg, Raven and I came to save the day. Good memories, Boy Blunder?"

Robin blushed. "I didn't want to hurt her!"

Cyborg grinned at Beast Boy. "Yeah, Rob… Look, a pwetty alien that's destroying the city!" Cyborg mimicked a high pitched, over exaggerated "Robin voice". "Must get her to go out with me! Ow, I got my butt kicked! But pwetty alien kissed me! She kissed me!"

Beast Boy howled in laughter. Robin's face reddened even more. "Shut up, _sparky_" He hissed. "Bumblebee told me all about how she completely kicked your ass in that underwater H.I.V.E academy. And she wasn't even doing her best."

Cyborg was silent for a moment.

"Dude, is it just me… or is it that any one of our crushes or girlfriends could completely tear us apart with ease? This is like, so freaky." Beast Boy scratched his head.

"Bumblebee is _not_ my crush. Still, BB has a point. This _is _creepy."

"Dude, someone up there so doesn't like us." Beast Boy laughed nervously.

"Strange… I always thought that Beast boy liked being Raven's plaything."

"Cut it Rob. If you want us to help you with your Starfire problem, you better act nice."

"Okay…"

* * *

So… 

Whaddya think, hmmm?


	6. Nevermore and Missing Robins

Beast Boy and Cyborg sat at the kitchen table, waiting for the Boy Wonder who had yet to arrive. Sipping a glass of water, the changeling leaned over to Cyborg and grinned.

"Rae took me to Nevermore today for a visit." Beast Boy flashed Cyborg another wide smile.

Cyborg, meanwhile, looked as if he just short circuited in shock. "_Raven_ took you inside her mind? Did you drug her or something?" The titanium armoured titan eyed the green teen suspiciously. "You are so going to die if you did."

"Dude, chill." Beast Boy held his hands in front of him. "Remember that Rae and I were gonna go out today? She said she couldn't, because her emotions were going haywire and she needed to straighten them out with me. So naturally, being the good guy I am, even though I was still freaked out by the last time I went in, I agreed."

"With _you_? Man, I don't mean anything, but… BB, you're the last person that I would get to help me if I had emotion problems."

"Not in Raven's case, dude. She said something about her emotions wanting to interact with me, but can't 'cuz Rae can't express her emotions well. So naturally, her emotions attempt to force themselves out."

"Ahh… so that's why Raven shamelessly flirted with you this morning and called you a… eh… oh, a 'sexy green beast'!"

"Bingo, Cyborg. Though I still don't know which emotion said that. They were all over me when I went in…" Beast Boy looked dreamily into the distance.

"They were?" Cyborg looked over to the changeling in disbelief.

"Yep. And I am definitely going in there again. Cyborg, you're my best friend, right?" Beast Boy looked at Cyborg, hopeful. "You do keep the passwords of all the rooms in your computer, right? Could you—"

"No, BB. I won't let you do something like that."

"Cy… at least give me the manual override." Beast Boy gave Cyborg "the face".

"No, and that's final! And that only works on Starfire, so cut it."

"But Cyborg! They need me! Brave was so goddamn feisty when she saw me! Oh, and for your information, the face works on Raven as well."

Cyborg shook his head. "No!" But the half human machine looked slightly intrigued. "So Rae actually let her emotions fight over you?"

"She was a bit embarrassed, but yeah. Okay, she was _really _embarrassed. But, you could say it was our first date." Beast Boy sighed dazedly. "It was great. Say, I won't be betraying Rae if I meet with her emotions secretly, would I?"

"For the last time, no, I will not let you find a way into Raven's room. So you can stop all the day dreaming and— say, where's Robin?"

"You're right! Ol' Boy Wonder should have been here an hour ago!" Beast Boy frowned and looked at the clock.

"Hmm, probably asleep. Staying up late all night, tracking villains on the computer by day… it's a marvel that he isn't dead yet."

"Yeah, you're right." The changeling grinned evilly. "So… y'wanna take a look at Robin's more personal side?"

_Moments later__…_

Cyborg was rolling on the ground, laughing his screws loose. Beast Boy looked quite proud of himself, though he was trying hard to seem modest.

"Man, how the hell did you take those pictures of the inside of Robin's drawers? The security system is perfect! And Robin always locks his door!"

"Robin's door has a small hole in it on the bottom. I simply morphed into a fly and flew in."

"Oh? But how 'bout the camera? Cameras can't shrink!"

"Indeed they can't! That was the trickier part."Beast Boy grinned proudly. "Our fearless leader decided to give me one of his famous lectures one day, and it so happens that the files he wanted me to see were in his room. So, I simply took a small pocket camera in as well and hid it under his bed for 'future use'. Crafty, hmm?"

"I gotta say that you're good, BB." Cyborg patted Beast Boy on back.

"Ya think that was good? Watch this…" Beast Boy started playing the best video in his whole blackmail collection.

After the video ended, Cyborg had _really _short circuited.

"Umm… Cy?" Beast Boy rapped the cybernetic teen on his shiny metal head. "Earth to Cyborg!"

"God, BB… THAT WAS FRIGGIN' AWESOME!" Cyborg finally came to and was laughing hysterically. "Man, who knew that Robin actually did the unspeakable act in his room! I've watched you two staring at a laptop monitor on the security cameras, but I never thought that _this_ was what you two were watching!"

"So I trust that you understand Rob's problem?" Beast Boy looked at Cyborg.

"He wants to get laid?"

"Eh… I don't want to put it that way, but yeah."

"No problemo. Just give me a few days and I'll get the problem solved faster than Kid Flash giving Jinx the… never mind." Humming happily, Cyborg walked back to his room.


	7. That Restless Feeling

Beast Boy moved restlessly in his chair. "How long is Robin going to take? He swore that he'd come tonight. Don't tell me that he's fallen asleep again…"

"BB, you've been only waiting for five minutes, tops. What's the matter with you today? You seemed kinda irritated and impatient. S'there something on your mind?"

"No, nothing's on my mind. So cut out the questioning." Beast Boy was sweating a bit, and his face was slightly red. "I'm completely normal, can't ya see? Just a bit…" The changeling started twiddling his thumbs and rocked himself on his chair, as if he couldn't even stand to motionless for a single second.

Cyborg shrugged, and looked up at the clock. "Two o'clock. I think that Boy wonde—"

The common room doors slid open, and Robin slipped in. Sitting next to his friends, he smiled. "I got Star to go out with me tomorrow!"

Beast Boy smirked. "Congrats, Boy Blunder. But bet that date can't beat my first."

"Speaking of love and dates… why did your sparring match turn into a make out session with Raven?" Cyborg glanced over at the green titan, who was blushing furiously.

"Uh… she started it?" The changeling half asked, hoping his friends would drop the subject.

"Jeez, BB, we saw the whole thing. She pinned you down, you officially lost, but then you threw her off you and 'pounced'." The cybernetic teen eyed the changeling questioningly. "You'd never do that. And you've been restless all day. What's wrong with you, BB?"

"Yeah, mating season?" Robin laughed.

Awkward silence.

"You can't be serious…" Cyborg gasped.

"Dudes, it's not that! Anything but that!" The changeling shouted frantically.

"Man Beast Boy, I didn't know that you actually had a mating season! I thought that only animals could have that! Oh wait, you are an animal!" Robin was snickering uncontrollably.

"Yeah… so _that__'__s_ why you act hyperactive most of the time! To mask this particular time of the year! And once you act mature…" Cyborg grinned mockingly. "All is revealed."

"Yeah, I wonder how Raven'll feel when she hears this…" Robin suddenly looked extremely evil. "Oh, I'll just love to give her this juicy piece of info to her."

"She'll probably squeal and jump for joy. Her boyfriend is a 'sexy green _beast_' after all." Cyborg sniggered and added, "Man, I've never thought that our lil' grass stain was so damn ferocious!"

Beast Boy, meanwhile, was sinking lower and lower into his chair, occasionally adding a weak, "It isn't true…" or "Let me explain…" He finally groaned and started slamming his head repeatedly on the table.

Cyborg noticed this sudden movement and managed to put on a straight face. "It's alright, BB. You are part animal, after all. C'mon, you have to say it out loud. Let out all those years of frustration. We promise that we won't talk about this again if you say it out loud." Robin looked at Cyborg, confused. The half machine wrote a small 'trust me' on Robin's leg with his metallic finger.

Beast Boy looked at Cyborg suspiciously. "Not a word to anyone in the future?"

Cyborg beamed. "Yep. Even Robin." He pointed a shiny finger at the changeling. "C'mon BB. Y'have to say it out loud. Release it. Prove that you're a man."

Beast Boy still looked suspicious. "Really? You won't mock me about this anymore?"

"Yep. We won't mock you anymore."

"Okay then…" The changeling took a deep breath. In a wavering voice, he gasped out, "I-I have a mating season. I've been through this ever since I've hit puberty. I have no idea why. Happy now, Cyborg?" Beast Boy then saw the blinking red light on Cyborg's finger. "You wouldn't…"

"Oh yes I would." Smiling insanely, the large titan pushed a button on himself. A small screen popped out of Cyborg's arm and placed itself in front of the green, trembling teen. "We don't need words to mock you. This video would do just fine."

"Aww, BB, you weren't smiling. Should we do it again?" Robin was chuckling madly at this point. The master of pranks, jokes and blackmail was still staring aghast at the screen, sweating.

"You evil, twisted, sadistic… you… actually recorded…"

"Yep!" Replied Cyborg proudly.

"Guys! Please… I thought we were friends…"

"We are friends. And friends share, y'know? It just happens that several of my friends are in the Titans East…" Cyborg ran to his room, laughing hysterically. Beast Boy didn't even have the strength to go chase after him. Sagging his shoulders in defeat, he turned to Robin.

"Robin. Today I explained to Starfire what sex was. She was delighted and immediately said it was exactly the same as Tamaran's 'ritual of Krifgargle' or something like that. Thought you should know, cuz' I've opened the door a bit wider for you. Better be grateful." Sighing, the disgraced changeling slowly trudged back to the common room doors.

"Wait."

Beast Boy turned around slowly. "Hmm?"

"You open that door a bit wider and I'll get that video back for you." Robin promised solemnly.

"Deal."

* * *

Ran out of good ideas. Had to throw in something like this. Poor BB… 


	8. Shot and Found

Robin and Cyborg saw glumly at the table. There was no way Beast Boy would be coming tonight, as their green friend was currently in the medical bay.

Recovering from three gunshot wounds.

Robin tightened his grip on his cup when he thought of this. _God, I am so goddamn stupid sometimes__…_ he sighed and sipped a bit of water. Sometimes he wondered how he had actually gotten the leader's position in the titans.

"Chill, Rob. It wasn't your fault. There was no way you could of seen that guy sneaking out a gun." Cyborg knew what was going on in Robin's mind.

"I should have." Robin groaned and took another drink. "I was too distracted by the fact that Beast Boy was going 'beast' again."

"Man, he was a bit restless these past few days. Then, to add it all up Rae just gets knocked unconscious right in front of his eyes. That had to hurt him."

Robin sighed. "I just hope he keeps that thing under control. He nearly scared the shit out of those bank robbers. I would hate to put him in jail if he kills someone."

Cyborg patted comfortingly on Robin's back. "I'm sure he'll be alright. Remember the last time BB used the Beast? I talked to him later and he said that he had control over his primal side the whole time. He won't get carried away. Besides," Cyborg chuckled a little. "Lil' grass stain probably lost himself because of his tiny problem we talked about last night."

Robin smiled weakly and laughed as well. "So, his situation is stable?"

Cyborg checked a few readings on his arm. "Yep. He probably won't be waking up for a while, but he'll be okay. I thank those animal genes." Cyborg smiled at Robin. "So… how did your trip with Starfire go before the nasty stuff that happened at the bank?"

"Pretty well. I took her over to movies and had a meal with her afterwards. She was really excited about the whole thing."

"Gee Robin, you've changed a lot. Few years ago you'd still be going all crime-obsessed and almost refusing to go anywhere when there was an unsolved case."

"Guess you guys loosened me up. Besides, most crimes are now made by normal criminals, not super villains that we used to fight. That battle with the Brotherhood changed a lot." Robin shrugged and set his empty glass on the table.

"Yeah. BB helped a lot in that fight. If he and his small team hadn't distracted the Brain, we would of never gotten inside."

"Yeah, he's a good leader. Never thought he had it in him." Robin then stood up, remembering something. "Cyborg, the security camera recordings are in this computer, right?" The boy wonder motioned to the computer in the common room. "I promised Beast Boy earlier today to delete the late night talks we've been having. I totally agree with him. I shudder to imagine what would happen if those got loose."

Cyborg merely nodded. But there was a very, very evil glint in his eyes that went unnoticed by Robin.

Robin started up the computer and clicked on the files that held the security camera videos. Feeling slightly amused and frightened at the prospect of another person having these videos, he was about to delete the clips when…

The common room doors slid open and Raven stepped in, looking very tired. She immediately noticed the boy wonder at the computer. "Up so late, Robin?"

The boy wonder blinked and backed away from the monitor. "Uh, hey Raven. Just deleting some unwanted files, that's all."

Raven arched an eyebrow. "Staying up late to delete files? You may be a workaholic, Robin, but I know you better than that." The empath gazed over to the computer. "Hmm, I wonder. And Cyborg is here as well?"

The Cybernetic teen grinned weakly and waved at Raven.

"Okay, so I am now officially interested." Robin was suddenly wrapped in a black aura of magic and tossed over to Cyborg. The two teens were then surrounded in a small shield of energy that encased them entirely, with no exit in sight. The Boy Wonder could only watch in horror as Raven casually made her way to the computer, and started to watch the recordings.

"Break it down!" Shouted Cyborg, paling. Robin whipped out his bo staff and grimly remembered the last time they tried to go up against Raven's magical shields. It didn't encourage him at all. Neverless, he still started smacking the barrier repeatedly, hoping to wear it down. Behind him, Cyborg was charging up his sonic cannon.

_Two__ hour__s__ later__…_

This just wasn't Robin's lucky day. First he had to see one of his teammates get injured. Then he had to face this living nightmare.

The long hammering, smacking, drilling, shooting, bombing, blasting hadn't done anything at all. The shield still stood as strong as ever. And the worst thing was that Robin could see Raven's every reaction through the barrier. First the eyebrow raising, then the frowning, then the twitching eyelid.

The shield around the two horrified titans suddenly lifted. But they were far from relieved.

Silently, a window was opened with a flick of her finger and Cyborg and Robin were tossed into the water below. Without a word, the empath made her way to the medical bay, where an unfortunate changeling was…

--------------------

Thanks for all the reviews! The count is over 50 now!


	9. Danger Unaware

Robin lowered his head on the table, trying to calm his nerves as he waited for Cyborg. After that "incident" last night, he was always acting a bit strange. Starfire thought that it was because of "friend Beast Boy", who had not yet woken up; But Raven and Cyborg knew better.

There was a slight hiss and the doors opened. Cyborg walked into the dimly lit room smirking slightly. Unlike Beast Boy and the Boy Wonder, he wasn't really a victim of last night's events. "One o'clock in the morning. Are you sure you can handle this, Robin?"

"I have to." Replied Robin hoarsely. "If I don't let these thoughts out I'll go mad."

"But what about the accident last night, Robbie-poo? Rae knows all about your Starfire obsession now…"

"Don't. Say. A. Word." Muttered Robin. "I can't even look at that damned empath straight in the eye now. I can't even give her an order without cringing. And then there's that tiny, knowing smirk she flashes me whenever she has a goddamn chance! I shudder to think of what would happen if I have to force her into a training session…"

"Aww, it's not that bad. At least you didn't get it as bad as BB did." Cyborg grimaced and shivered.

Robin nodded wearily. Beast Boy tossed, turned and screamed hours after Raven left him. He even began sobbing into his sheets, according to the security cameras. Speaking of security cameras… the Boy Wonder made a mental note to disable the ones in the kitchen.

The common room doors hissed open again, revealing a very tired empath. Raven made her way over to the kitchen and started making a cup of herbal tea, ignoring the horrified glances the boys were sending her way.

"Uhh… Rae? Wha-what brings you here in the middle of the night?" Said Cyborg, who was trying to sound casual but failing miserably.

"I could ask you two the same thing if I didn't already know." Raven set a kettle on the stove and turned around. "Robin, loosen up. Your secrets won't be going anywhere, I promise."

Robin smiled unconvincingly and relaxed his muscles a little bit.

"And to your question, Cyborg… I was talking mentally to Gar. I realized that I've been a bit harsh to him, so I decided to apologize."

"Gar?" Questioned Robin.

"Beast Boy's real name. Garfield." Raven opened her box of tea leaves. "Hmm. I'm running short."

"So he's okay now? And what did you do to him?"

"Believe me, Cyborg, you don't want to know what I did to him. Besides, it is quite personal." Raven's face reddened a little. "And yes, he is okay now. He was feeling a bit lonely, so I left Timid in with him. She likes being with him anyway."

"You left an emotion in his mind?" Robin asked, wide eyed. Raven had told the Boy Wonder about Cyborg's and Beast Boy's trip into Nevermore a few months after it happened.

"Yes." Raven's kettle started to whistle, so she took it off and turned off the fire.

"You actually can? Man, that's amazing!" Cyborg was astonished. "Does that mean you have no timidity in you now?"

"Not exactly. Timid's effect on me has grown weaker, yes, but I still have a link with her. There is also the fact that I can't just do it with any person. If any one of my emotions got fatally harmed in any way, I could go insane. Even die. So—" Raven stopped suddenly, looking aghast. "He wouldn't…" Raven put on her hood and stomped off in the direction of the medical bay.

Robin thrummed his fingers on the table. "Well, that was interesting."

"Where is she going? She left in quite a hurry." Cyborg looked over his shoulder and saw an already Raven-free room.

"I think that she's gone off to see Beast Boy again." Replied Robin, who was now rummaging in the refrigerator.

"Is that so?" Cyborg pulled the Boy Wonder over to him, grinning widely. "Yesterday I attached a new invention of mine onto BB's head! And it's just completely wicked." The cybernetic teen started thumbing switches on himself.

"And what does this invention of yours do?" Asked Robin suspiciously.

"It intercepts brainwaves from a person and 'translates' them into thoughts and emotions! So I bet we can hear the discussion between those two lovebirds…" Chuckling madly, Cyborg turned a small dial way up and pushed a button. "Maybe we can even hear a 'cheating' attempt that Raven found Beast Boy doing a few days ago!"

"Nah, Beast Boy's too good a person to cheat on Raven. And although you can't see it, he cares about his health."

"Uh huh." Cyborg tapped a large button on his arm.

The next thing they knew, their eardrums were a hairs length close to shattering. As Cyborg fumbled for the volume switch, all Robin could make out was—

"—DID YOU DO TO TIMID!?"

"Nothing, I swear! She took that cloak off by herself!"

"The leotard?"

"Umm…"

"GARFIELD MARK LOGAN, I AM SO GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Cyborg finally managed to find an "off" switch and pushed it with all his strength. The two boys looked at each other.

"I take everything I just said about Beast Boy back." Announced Robin

* * *

Truth be told, I have no idea what Raven did to Beast Boy. It would be an interesting topic to write about, though. Ah, and thanks for the sixty reviews! 


	10. Invading Cross

Beast Boy stumbled into the common room, blindfolded with a dark black piece of cloth. He felt his way toward the kitchen, and sat down beside a very amused Cyborg and Robin.

"What time is it?" Beast Boy asked hollowly. He turned to the clock hanging on the wall, but couldn't see through the cloth that was covering his eyes.

"A bit over one o'clock. Say BB, when are you going to take this off?" Cyborg grinned and tapped the blindfold lightly.

"After my 'problem' ends." The changeling answered, fumbling to pour himself a glass of water.

"But won't that take a long time? Animal mating seasons often take quite a while." Robin raised his eyebrows and looked at Beast Boy curiously. "And you're doing this just so you can't see Raven?"

The shapeshifter groaned. "You have no idea how much Raven effects me in this state. Jeez, I tried to do Timid yesterday night! I have to keep myself under control!"

"So you mean that you might wear this for a month or more?" Asked Cyborg.

"As long as it takes." Answered the green titan solemnly. "It's for Raven's sake as well as mine. Dude, I think that I'm mentally scarred for life after that fiasco yesterday night. Literally." Beast Boy shivered. "Raven nearly killed me before I told her about my situation. Though it would be a great excuse to do something…"

Cyborg laughed out loud. "Ah, c'mon BB, couldn't you try to 'relieve' yourself the way our lil' Boy Wonder here did? I'm sure Robin here would lend you some tips!"

Robin's masked eyes widened. "Beast Boy? You didn't…"

Beast Boy laughed nervously. "Uh… Cyborg hacked into my computer and got the clip from there?"

"I am going to kill you someday, Beast Boy. And don't even think about getting me to steal your little 'confession' video for you." Robin hissed through gritted teeth. "In fact, I'll help Cyborg spread it across the Internet."

"You won't, Robin. Dude, we totally have the best blackmail material of the other, and I don't think you're the one that's going to drop the bomb first." Beast Boy grinned smugly and finally succeeded in pouring out the water.

Robin looked tense for a moment, then sighed in defeat. "Damn. You're right. Though I don't like it, we won't get hurt in this Cold War scenario. We're both safe in a way. No one's willing to press the button first."

Beast Boy nodded in agreement. However, the two titans didn't notice a certain cybernetic teen stifling loud giggles.

Beast Boy smiled and leaned forward. "So Robin… have you had any luck on Star recently?"

Robin shrugged. "Possibly in a few weeks at least. I'm not very optimistic on my chances in what I'm trying to get her to do."

"Is that so? Well…" The changeling stiffened slightly and beckoned for the two other titans to lean in closer.

"What, BB?" Cyborg frowned and looked at Beast Boy with a questioning glance.

"There's an intruder in the Tower. Somewhere in the common room." Beast Boy was keeping his voice as low as possible, making it almost impossible to hear.

Robin narrowed his eyes. "You smell him?" he whispered back.

"Yes. And I hear him a little. He's very good at keeping quiet." Beast Boy was trying his best to act casual.

"I've got him…" Muttered Cyborg. His right arm disappeared under the table, slowly shifting into his trusty sonic cannon.

"Okay." Breathed the nervous changeling. "I'll tell you when he's right behind me. He's crossing behind me now…" Beast Boy slowly edged the blindfold off his eyes. "NOW!"

In a flash, Cyborg's sonic cannon was out and firing. There was a strangled cry behind Beast Boy, then nothing.

Robin hurried over to the unconscious trespasser and turned on the lights. What he saw surprised him beyond anything that happened today.

"Red X?"

Cyborg blinked his human eye, just as confused. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Dude, I'd so like to know." Muttered Beast Boy, who was examining how much damage Cyborg's supercharged sonic cannon did to the thief.

Robin ran his hand through his spiky hair. "Tie him up, and take his weapons and equipment. We may need to ask some hard questions tonight."

Nodding, Beast Boy took some very thick rope out of the drawers and started tying them around the knocked out figure. Robin was fishing out various pieces of weaponry out of places barely visible on the suit; he designed it, after all, and he knew it best. Cyborg was doing a check on the Tower security to see if anything was out of place. So far, everything he checked was alright.

_Half an hour later__…_

Red X groaned and tried to get up. To his surprise, he was tied up and in a chair, and his entire belt was gone. To make matters worse, three not-so-happy-looking titans were staring at him.

Beast Boy was the first to speak up. "Dude, should we get Raven and Starfire? This is kind of important."

Cyborg shook his head. "Nah, we can handle this ourselves. We'll give him to the girls in the morning. It's too late now.

"I agree. So speak up, X. Don't make things dirtier than they already are." Robin walked over to the thief and looked at him straight in the eye. "Why did you come here tonight?"

The thief sighed and looked back at Robin. "As if you don't know."

"Don't know about what?"Robin snapped.

"The fact that you still have a small reserve of xenothium in your basement? Ring any bells, Chuckles?"

Robin's mouth dropped open. "How the hell did you know? And…" The boy Wonder suddenly frowned. "What the hell happened to you, X?"

Red X's suit was ripped and stained in many places, and some of his pale skin was showing underneath the tears. In other areas, dried blood was still showing on the material. "It's none of your damn business." The thief snapped, trying unsuccessfully to free himself.

Robin inspected the belt, running his fingers along the metal. "Your xenothium supply is running extremely low. What have you been doing?"

"Whatever he's been doing, he wasn't very successful. My scanners pick up a broken rib on him, and a dozen other small injuries. Man, whoever did this to him is good." Cyborg tapped another command into his arm.

"You don't say." Mumbled Red X. Robin shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe it; one of the cockiest villains he had ever faced was now sighing in defeat, as though all the fight had gone out of him. Was he really the thief that mocked the Titans at every battle?

"Cyborg, give him a tranquilizer. We're all too tired to handle a situation like this. We'll force the things we want out of him tomorrow night, before we hand him over the police."

"Yeah, and we'll tell the girls about him as well." Beast Boy commented.

"You wouldn't. Remember that I've heard your little chat before. Do you really want the girls to know about what you said?" Red X cracked open one eye and chuckled, a bit of his old arrogance creeping back in.

"Eh, on second thought… I won't tell the girls 'till he's behind bars." Beast Boy quickly put his blindfold back on and walked back to his room.

* * *

Sorry if it seems a bit OOC to let Robin put off questioning Red X 'till tomorrow night. Well, I _can_ say that he's loosened up, doesn't go on obsession sprees, and he thinks more logically now. At least in this story. 

I thought that a villain in the boy talks would be a nice touch. I mean, hey, only that much stuff can happen between the original three male titans.


	11. X in Trouble

"Why do you think he really came, Cy? He couldn't possibly want to brave Titans Tower for a few test tubes of xenothium." Beast Boy scratched his head thoughtfully. "It just doesn't seem right. " Beast Boy's now cover-free eyes were expressing confusion. The changeling had decided that being with his male friends without his blindfold was okay.

"BB, I don't know. Just wait 'till Robin gets him. Hopefully, it won't be too hard and he'll answer the questions." Cyborg glanced at the monitor on his right arm. "Rob's comin' up. Put on your best mean face grass stain, 'cuz this will be one hell of a questioning."

The common room doors opened, and Robin half carried the still tied up criminal to the table. Tying Red X to a chair, the Boy Wonder took a seat and fixed his eyes on his opponent. "One chance, X. Speak the truth, and fast."

"Ah, now now chuckles, we don't want to be getting hasty." Beast Boy could hear some quiet laughter with his acute hearing. "Why don't we have a chat like old friends? Or at least like civilized people, hmm?" Red X seemed to have regained quite a bit of his arrogance. Strangely, a day in the Tower actually did good to him.

Robin slammed his fist down on the table. "I don't want to play games, X. Speak up right now!"

Red X merely chuckled. "Robin, Boy Wonder… say, does that mean that you wonder if you're a boy? I would be wondering too if I were you…"

"The people I saved gave me that name. Now shut up and talk to me." Robin growled.

"Ah. So it means even the people you saved question your masculinity. I never really thought that it'd be that bad, chuckles." Red X was still calmly sitting tied up in the chair.

Beast Boy and Cyborg clamped their hands over their mouths to stifle the laughter.

"X, I'm warning you… you don't tell me what's going on, I'll send you back out there to face whatever's trying to get you."

X's eyes widened, but he quickly forced them back to normal. "You shouldn't make assumptions, wonder boy. For all you know, I probably could have slipped on a banana peel. And even if there was an enemy of mine out there trying to get me, how do you know if I hadn't finished him off already?"

"Many clues, Red X." Robin leaned back in his chair, back in control of the situation. "The first thing was that you actually seem more relaxed in our tower. And…" Robin took out a small shard of black-colored metal and tossed it across the table. "This."

Red X eyed the fragment and shrugged. "A chip off one of your many remotes?"

"No. To us, the whole item is quite well known." Robin's voice was steady, but Beast Boy's ears could finally hear a little bit of worry in the words, hidden very well by Robin's fierce voice. "This was found in one of tears in the uniform of yours. And it was once a part of a Slade detonator."

Cyborg's mouth dropped open. Beast Boy growled in anger. Red X sighed.

"I analyzed it as soon as I found it, and I am quite sure about it." Continued Robin, face hard. "And that's why you have to talk up, X. You've had dealings with him, and we don't like him."

"But Rob, that shard of metal could be from any bomb or explosive! Even a remote maybe! How do you know if it's from Slade?" Cyborg took the shard over and started to run his scanner all over it.

"Believe me, I know. Slade's explosives have very different components then others. Extremely deadly, trust me." Robin crossed his arms and looked at Red X again. "You double-crossed him, didn't you?"

"It's none of your business." Red X shot back.

"When it comes to Slade, it's everybody's business." Cyborg replied coldly. Beast Boy nodded in agreement. "From the little we know, maybe Slade sent you. Perhaps I'll just have to take off your mask so you can—"

"I'll talk, I'll talk." Red X replied hurriedly. Robin could almost imagine the thief paling under his mask.

"Then talk. And your talk better not have any lies. And turn off your voice alteration system I installed, so we can hear your real voice and make sure your not feeding us rubbish." Robin ordered.

Red X shrugged and thumbed a button on his suit. "There. Satisfied?"

The thief's voice was suddenly smooth and convincing, much unlike his earlier mechanical voice. Beast Boy blinked and elbowed Cyborg in the stomach.

"Dude, was this actually a good idea?" he whispered.

"It's too late to let him turn it off now, BB." Cyborg whispered back. "And quit talking, he's about to start his story."

"Back few weeks ago, I moved my operations to Gotham city. Thought that since the place wasn't infested with Titans, I would go there. Plus, they had some very highly priced items just waiting to be stolen, and some pretty cool technology to add to chuckle's stuff. Then I just had to run into the bat that watches over the area. Never thought he'd come after little old me. Maybe it was the fact that I was stealing from the head of the Wayne Enterprises. Anyway…" Red X paused for a dramatic effect. "I fought hand to hand with him in an exciting 'long' two-minute match and almost used up all my xenothium trying to escape. It sucked, really. When I finally got back here, Sladey was waiting for me, with a month's supply of xenothium. Heaven knows how he gets all that information. He wanted an apprentice, as the last two he got tried to kill him; and wonder boy, don't give me that look. It was the best thing for me at that moment, so as all thieves do, I took the offer happily and became his so called 'apprentice'."

Red X leaned back into his chair, cracking his neck. "I liked it at first. The pay was good, I got free xenothium (heaven knows where he got the stuff) and I knew that I could ditch him anytime I wanted. And I knew after a few days that I _would_ ditch him. He wanted me to call him master, for hell's sake. And he was planning to assign assassination missions. I'm a thief, but I never kill. That's what really pissed me off. So on a bright Sunday morning, I ditched him."

The thief looked up at the ceiling and continued his story. "And as always, he had a very harsh backup plan. He couldn't threaten me with anything other than my own life; so he threatened the only thing he could. Somehow he managed to send out a girl that had things that were completely meant for my suit and talents. I use any xenothium based weapon and it gets deflected by some force field every frikin' time. I try to teleport, she's got an EMP that knocks it out. It's like playing a game of rock paper scissors and loosing every time. And she hits damn hard with the stuff that Slade gave her. But the worst part is that she has a tracking device that tracks the tiniest traces of xenothium, which basically means me. And that, Titans, is why I have come; to stock up my supply with chuckle's reserves, yes, but also to hide—eh, _lie low_ for a while because the things that the device can sense here are immediately dismissed as Robbie's chemical warehouse. I have no chance to win against an enemy that is practically _meant_ for me." Red X laughed weakly. "And it doesn't help that the girl is damn hot."

Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg exchanged glances. "Hot?" repeated Beast Boy blankly.

"We'll, eh, discuss that later." Robin frowned and turned back to the thief. "But don't you have any allies here that can help you out?"

"Ha. You turned almost all the villains that you knew into Popsicles in that battle with the Brotherhood of Evil, remember? It's a good thing that I grew tired of all those 'take over the world' fanatics and left early. And besides, having allies in our business is practically holding up a piece of paper with 'STAB MY BACK' written neatly on it. Groups like the former H.I.V.E Five were rare, I tell you."

"Uh huh. Well X—"

"Shh! Someone's coming!" Whispered Beast Boy loudly.

Cyborg paled. "Who?"

"Must be Star. She half floats when she walks, so she barely makes any noise. Quick, under the couch!"

"Are you kidding BB? I could never fit in there!"

"Then take yourself apart and then stuff yourself inside then! We don't have much time!"

"Beast Boy, where is she now?" hissed Robin, who had already hoisted Red X up.

"Approx. twenty feet from the doors. Hurry!"

After much scuffling, the boys managed to fit themselves under the large sofa. Just barely.

"Robin, you're sticking your arm up between my legs!"

"Chuckles, unwrap the hand around my chest. It's extremely disturbing."

Bam! "Ow! Cyborg, watch it!"

"Where'd I hit, Robin?"

"Believe me, you do not want to know."

"Aw, Cyborg hit Robin's robin in the basement?"

"Shut it, BB, before I castrate you. Animals in mating season deserve to be castrated."

A hand suddenly lifted the couch up slightly, revealing the three male titans; Red X was thankfully still out of sight, buried by the other bodies.

"Robin? What are you doing with friend Beast Boy and friend Cyborg?" A very confused alien asked with a bottle of mustard in hand, looking at the entangled, suggestive positions. Then her entire face lit up. "Oh, glorious! You are participating in the ritual of Krifgargle with our friends! But I am afraid that you are mistaken. The ritual of Krifgargle is only for boy and girl. Come, Robin, please let me show you!" The excited alien grabbed Robin's hand and zoomed back to her room.

Cyborg blinked. Beast Boy smirked, and muttered,

"Rob's one lucky kid."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Woo, long chapter (for me, anyhow).If you don't know what the ritual of Krifgargle is, look it up at the end of chap 7. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter!


	12. Cross Bait

Robin groaned. "Beast Boy, why can't you see the sense in this plan?"

"Plan? _Plan?_ You call that thing a plan? You basically want to let him go, for heaven's sake!" Beast Boy was fuming, and his arms were crossed angrily.

"Beast Boy, I know you're afraid of Red X, but—"

"Robin, cut it. I'm not afraid of that damn thief. You remember our first fight with Red X? We got totally screwed, and that time it was you inside the outfit. Our fight with the Red X currently in our basement was even worse! We got double-screwed!"

"Beast Boy, the suit was designed to beat the Teen Titans, our team. It's its best function. If Red X went up against the Titans East, he could very likely be defeated." Robin replied, slightly annoyed.

"Robin, that's exactly my point. We've got an enemy _meant_ for us, quoting X's words. He could beat eight tons of shit out of us without breaking a sweat, and—"

"Beast Boy, stop it and listen to me. I meant to say that the Red X suit was designed to win when facing you, Raven, Starfire and Cyborg here. But not _me_, because I originally intended to be inside the suit myself. We have a large chance to capture him if he tries to run."

"You're just feeling overconfident because you slept with Star last night!"

"Woah! Calm it there, BB." Cyborg reached over and patted the changeling on the back. "C'mon, you know that Rob's making sense. What harm can it do? Worst case scenario: Red X escapes, Slade forces him to be his apprentice, he and the girl who's chasing him storm the tower…" The cybernetic teen frowned. "Wait, that is a bit worrying."

"It won't happen. Trust me. There will be no mistakes in this mission."

Beast Boy glared at his leader, but he shrugged.

"That's my grass stain!" Cyborg ruffled the changeling's hair vigorously. "Now to get Red X…"

_Half an hour later__…_

"Why in the world did I agree to this…" moaned the infamous thief, who was standing in plain sight on the tallest building in Jump City. That was the plan: he was bait. The titans were to get the assassin that was trying to get him, and he was to stand here like an idiot daredevil. Nice.

"Robin calling X. See her yet?"

The thief pulled out the spare communicator the titans had given him."No, chuckles. Stop bothering me or I'll ditch this mission and run off. X out."

"I'll like to see you try. You go out there and you'll get killed by Slade's hired woman. We're your only hope, and you know that."

"Dick…" muttered Red X as he shut the lid of the electronic device, and looked around. No one in sight.

"Robin to X. There has been a slight change of plans. We don't have enough time to be standing around like this.You need to attract Slade's attention, no matter how illogical."

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"There is an antique display two blocks away from you. Slade is sure to have marks on places you could steal from. The security isn't too high; you can break in."

"Finally, a part of the plan I actually like." Red X shoved the communicator into his belt and took off into the night.

Following quietly behind on the streets were the three titans. And they were arguing.

"Robin, you asked Red X to steal? How could you?"

"Cyborg, the place is actually cover for a group of drug dealers. It'll actually benefit us."

"But steal! Man, that's just…"

"Shush! X is trying to break in." The Boy Wonder and the two others crept into a dark alley a safe distance away, peering over at the thief at work.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Humming quietly to himself, Red X examined the door. Not too complicated, a pity. He always loved the thrill of unlocking a complex lock. Putting his hand on the heavy metallic piece, he prepared to scan the piece of primitive machinery.

Except his scanner didn't work.

"Damn it!" he whispered. Trust Boy Wonder to leave glitches in a suit he designed. But the suit had never done this before. Looking down, Red X glanced at the container on his belt. The readings did not please him.

Zero. In other words… completely no xenothium.

"Chuckles… I. Am. Going. To. Kill. you." This was going to be harder than he thought. Well, he did have other routes. The Boy Wonder drained his xenothium. So what?

Reaching into his left boot, he smiled. Back in the days when he was just a very talented thief, he had always prized his famous lock-picking device. That thing could unlock anything in mere minutes. It was a pain parting with it when he found that his new Red X suit could open things faster than it ever could.

Oh shit.

He parted with it months ago. The thing was probably gathering dust somewhere under his bed now. Fumbling around, he plucked out a very insignificant object out from his boot.

Great. The Titans were going to have a nice laugh with this thing. But he knew that he was going to castrate Robin when he got back. Slowly, painfully, and with a carpenter's hammer.

The famous Red X, well known for his numerous thief-gadgets, was going to pick a lock with an extra flimsy bobby pin. Whoop-de-doo.

Red X ignored the stifled giggles emanating from his communicator, and set down to work. When was the last time he picked a lock with a tool like this? Ten, eleven years? It didn't matter. After a few minutes of futile struggling, the thief threw the hair accessory over his head and started kicking the door repeatedly. He didn't care if he tripped a dozen alarms in the whole place. The whole night was stupid, humiliating and overall a complete failure. He shouldn't have come in the fir—

A very sharp, ice cold item pressed itself on the back of his neck. Red X struggled not to jump in fright.

"I didn't know that you would be so easy to get, X." said a calm, female voice. "You were clearly overrated by the titans and Slade."

Working to collect his arrogance back, he replied in a smug voice, "How did you know that I didn't let _you_ catch me, sweetie?"

The next thing he knew, he was lying face down on the ground with a boot on his head.

"Watch that tongue, thief. Or I'll—"

"You'll what? Hmm? How suggestive of y—"

The heavy boot crashed down on the back of the thief's head. Dazed, he thought he heard a small crack. _Nothing broken, I hope__…_ he thought faintly.

"You will regret those words, X." The girl grabbed his collar and hoisted him up to her, face to face.

Then her eyes widened.

The thief's mask had cracked, and more than half of it had fallen off, giving her an almost full view of his face. She stared like that, speechless for more than five seconds. But Red X didn't notice. He was still thinking along the lines of "_Curse chuckles for using such cheap material on the mask__…"_ He didn't even hear the familiar sound of a sonic cannon charging its power.

The hand on Red X's throat suddenly disappeared, and there was a small thump to the right of him. He got up and turned his head slowly, seeing the girl struggle to stand up after being directly struck by Cyborg's sonic cannon. Robin was faster, however; he rushed up to their ambush victim and stabbed her in the arm with a tranquilizer dart. She sank down almost immediately.

So the night wasn't such a failure after all. That was all the thief thought of before he sank down to the ground, unconscious.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hmm… whaddya say? By the way, thanks for the many reviews!


	13. Assassin Mania

Robin leaned back into his chair, waiting for Cyborg to contact the Titans East. The cybernetic teen had claimed that someone in the group had an extremely impressive knowledge about assassins that still worked in the country, due to a special contact of his. Cyborg had yet to mention the particular titan's name to Robin.

"Cy, you sure that calling at one o'clock in the morning would be okay?"

"Of course, BB. I talked to Speedy today and he said that he wasn't going to sleep tonight, so I arranged to call him at this time. He'll be fine."

_Speedy?_ Thought Robin confusedly. That archer wasn't a person likely to set up contacts. In Robin's opinion, Speedy would be chasing after pretty girls instead of doing a thing like that.

The big screen in the common room blinked to life, and showed Speedy's grinning face.

"Hey, Cyborg! How are your guys?" The archer's cheerful voice filled the large room.

"Good enough." Replied Robin wryly.

"Okay then! What did you want to talk about, Cyborg?"

"Well, after series of strange and completely unnatural events, we've caught an assassin working for Slade. We were hoping that you could identify her for us."

"Aw, work? I thought this was supposed to be fun. Oh well, send some pictures over and I'll check 'em out."

"That's my man! 'K, I'm transmitting some of the pictures I took of her over. They should be arriving any minute." Cyborg typed a few commands into the titan computer.

"Ah, yes, they're here. Opening the files… hmm, never seen this one before. Completely new face to me. Wait a sec, I'll go ask my… uh… contact." Face turning an unnatural red, the archer rushed off the screen.

"Turn up the volume." Commanded Robin suddenly. Confused, the cybernetic teen obeyed. Beast Boy raised an eyebrow and looked queerly at the Boy Wonder.

What they heard next completely and utterly confused them. The titans heard small whispered words such as "kitty" and "kitten" murmured by Speedy just off the screen. And then they heard several…strange… sounds that were somewhat familiar but unrecognizable to all but Beast Boy.

"Dudes, I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but… I think those are the noises of two people furiously making out."

"By god, you're right!" Cyborg pressed his ear onto the speakers. "I think I hear an Asian accent. Jesus, what the hell is Speedy doin'?"

"Something tells me that I don't want to know." Commented Robin. "But I'm going to find out anyway. And who he's doing it with."

After a few moments of quiet muttering, the archer returned to his computer looking somewhat disheveled. "Guys, I know who she is now. Chesh— Er… my contact told me."

"Passionately?" asked Beast Boy slyly.

Speedy's face reddened. "No, course not, course not. Oh for the love of god, you heard me, didn't you?" The archer moaned and grabbed his head.

"Course we did. Care to share who your 'contact' is?"

"No. Not yet, anyway. Ahem, do you want the information on the assassin or not?" Speedy hurriedly changed the subject.

"Go on."

"Uh… she's called 'Stryke', relatively new to her business. She's good, no doubt about that. Nothing much is known other than the things I just told you. Right, Ches— uh, girl? Jesus, she's doing it again! She's gone! Where the hell is she—" There was a yelp and a flash of green pounced on the archer, driving him out of sight. The image fizzled out shortly after.

The three titans exchange glances.

"Dude… what just happened?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Red X woke up groggily the next night. As he examined his surroundings, he decided that he was in the Titans Tower medical bay. Bandages covered some of him, and he seemed well enough on the bed, but… there seemed to be something wrong with his face. He just couldn't think of what was wrong. Putting a hand to his forehead, he winced. Damn, a killer headache. Add that to a dozen or more bruises—

The thief's eyes widened, and his hand moved frantically around his head._ Where the hell is my mask?!_

Looking into a mirror beside his bed, he confirmed his fears; his mask was gone. In its place was a long strip of cloth tied around his head that hid the lower part of his face, but still showed quite a bit of pale skin. And the dark rings under his eyes. He tried to calm his nerves and started to search around.

In the Tower kitchen, Cyborg's arm beeped happily.

"Guys, X's awake. The tranquilizer in the girl is going to wear off in half an hour or so, so we best get movin'. Speedy's secret can wait."

Robin sighed and ran a hand through his spiky hair. "To the medical bay, then." Tapping in some codes, the doors opened and they started down the stairs.

Beast Boy frowned. "Dudes, how the hell do we tell the girls about this whole thing? Having one villain living in our basement was bad enough. Having two in our medical bay is totally insane!"

"Beast Boy, we'll tell them about this tomorrow. I promise." Robin punched a few numbers into the pad and the doors to the medical bay slid open with a hiss.

Beast Boy pulled Robin away from the door hurriedly. "And be sure to give X a new mask soon. Some people are very touchy about their secret identity."

"I know that, Beast Boy. But it can't be helped, as we've already seen it." But Robin looked slightly troubled as well. "But as a polite gesture, I've already found another way to hide his face until his mask is fixed." It felt strange caring about a thief's secret identity, but the Titan's relationship and Red X was… odd. They had fought together once, Robin had even saved X's life; they weren't friends, but at least sometimes they were allies.

When they entered the room, they found Red X still looking around him frantically for his mask.

"Chill, dude, what's up?" Asked Beast Boy, looking interestedly at the figure looking high and low around his bed.

Red X turned around, his makeshift mask looking somewhat strange with his suit. His midnight black eyes fixed on the titans. "Where's my mask?" he hissed.

"Dude, you don't remember? The gal cracked it after she threw you on the ground."

Red X paused, and the memories of the previous night rushed back to him. It wasn't good as he thought it would be, as he would of preferred to forget about the 'bobby pin incident'. But at least he remembered what had happened. And that would mean…

The thief whirled around and saw the assassin lying on another bed beside him. She was clearly unconscious, and was her breathing was extremely slow.

"She the one, X?" asked the Boy Wonder, checking the readings beside the bed.

"Yeah. She's the one." Red X fingered the fabric covering his face hesitantly. "Uh… guess I should thank you, chuckles."

"For what?"

"The capture… this…" the thief pointed to the dark cloth. "But you have to know you're going to watch your back from now on. That xenothium trick was mean, chuckles, and you know I'm going to get you back for it."

Robin smirked. "Anytime, X"

"Okay… Rob, this discussion can wait. X, do you know this girl?" Cyborg motioned to the unconscious form on the other bed.

"Before she started to try to kill me? No, I'm sure of it. I take pride in my ability to memorize every pretty face that I see."

"X, she's called Stryke. And do you know something? She held you up and looked at your face wordlessly for more than five seconds last night. I'm pretty sure that she knows you somehow." Cyborg crossed his arms and looked at the thief.

"I don't know her, trust me." Red X glanced at Stryke's face once more. "At least I don't recognize her face."

"This isn't getting us anywhere." Groaned Robin. "How the hell are we supposed to find Slade if you know nothing about her? Assassins rarely rat on their employers."

"We can always try. Wait— I think she's waking up." Cyborg's arm immediately changed into his sonic cannon.

They readied into position, just in case the girl was going to attack; but they needn't have worried. The assassin simply opened her eyes, then closed them again, moaning softly in pain.

"Hell Cy, what on earth did you hit her with?" Beast Boy had never seen people so beaten up by the sonic power before.

"Sonic cannon, full power. Same type I usually use on Cinderblock." The half mach teen grimaced. "I thought that she could take it."

"Damn. And then I emptied a full tranquilizer dart into her." Robin shook his head slowly. "Guess we'll have to question her tomorrow. With the girls."

"Yep. With the girls." Cyborg nodded in agreement.

* * *

Yay! Over 90 reviews! I love you all! 


	14. To Cross A Dragon

Due to their late night talks, the male titans normally didn't wake up till ten o'clock in the morning. And that was why they were staring at the note left on the common room table, aghast.

_Star dragged me off to the __"__mall of shopping__"__, and I think she__'__s planning to stay there for the whole day. So we won__'__t be returning anytime soon._

_Raven_

"How in the world are we going to tell them about our villain problem now? As a day pasts, everything becomes even harder to explain…" Robin let his head fall onto the table.

"Yeah… and to think we spent an hour trying to get our braveness up to tell them." Beast Boy dropped onto the couch with a sigh. "I don't think that we'll be able to tell them anytime in the future."

"Yeah, green bean. I totally agree with you." Cyborg grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V. "Awright! A shoot 'em up! This is just gonna be great." Disappointment disappearing slightly, the three titans started to watch the movie with enthusiasm.

After an hour into the movie, Beast Boy stood up with a strange look on his face. "I gotta go back to my room." He mumbled, before starting to walk out of the common room. Even his stride was funny; it wasn't the medium sized steps that the changeling usually took, but a guilty shuffling.

Cyborg glanced over his shoulder at the green teen. "Man, what's up with BB? The movie upset him or something?"

"Not likely. Beast Boy loves witty banter." Robin took a look over his shoulder as well. "I guess he needs some more sleep. We haven't been sleeping much lately, and Beast Boy's the one who needs it the most."

"Hmm. I think you're right, Robin. But just in case, I'll watch him for a while. You know that he never tells anyone except Raven how he really feels." The cybernetic teen stood up and walked out of the common room as well. "Be back in a minute!" He shouted back to Robin.

Shrugging, the Boy Wonder returned his eyes to the movie. Ah, yes. He loved quiet sometimes just as much as Raven. Relaxing on the couch, watching a good movie…

Cyborg bounded back into the common room, his face filled with a scary looking glee. "C'mon, Rob, you just gotta see this!" Ignoring his leader's continuous protests, the half machine carried Robin all the way to Beast Boy's room.

"Cyborg, what are you doing?! I was getting to the best part!"

"Shush, Rob. You'd kill yourself a million times with a sledgehammer if you didn't see this with your own eyes!" Cyborg dragged Robin over to Beast Boy's open door and motioned him to peek inside.

What Robin saw made him bite on his fist to keep himself from laughing out loud.

Beast Boy was hammering his wall with his fists vigorously, leaving quite a few dents in the wall. It was faintly amusing. But the thing that had Robin and Cyborg rolling on the floor was the words that the changeling was uttering.

"Get rid of!" –bam!- "Sexual!" –bam- "Urges!" –bam- "Stop!" –bam- "Thinking!" –bam- "About!" –bam- "Raven!" –bam- "Stupid!" –boom- "Frikin'!" –boom- "Mating season!" The changeling gave the wall one last kick before collapsing on his bunk bed. "Oh, the agony…" Beast Boy moaned.

Then the titan caught sight of his friends giggling hysterically by the door.

"Oh no oh no oh no oh NO OH NO!" The changeling leapt before his two companions and knelt down. "Please! Tell me that you didn't hear what I just said!"

Grinning, Cyborg showed Beast Boy a high quality recording that answered all his questions.

"No, no, no… don't you have enough blackmail, Cyborg?" Beast Boy landed face down on the floor, still unable to face his friends.

"I always thirst for more." The cybernetic teen smirked devilishly.

"Wait, Cy… I think I hear a person… sobbing…" The changeling lifted his head and twitched his pointy ears.

"Aw, BB, you're making that up to make us leave you alone, aren't you? Wait— I think I hear it as well. Do you hear it, Rob?"

Frowning, the Boy Wonder nodded.

Beast Boy shifted into a wolf and started to search for the sound. Robin and Cyborg followed closely behind, cautiously.

And where did they stop at? You guessed it: Raven's room.

"Where else in the tower would you expect a spooky crying voice to be?" Muttered Cyborg.

"Beast Boy, you're sure it's in there?" Asked Robin.

"Positive. And I'm going in." Beast Boy shifted back into a human and prepared to knock the door down.

"Wait! BB, do you remember the other time we went into Raven's room without permission? We were stuck in her mind! Haven't you learned your lesson?" Cyborg grabbed Beast Boy's arm swiftly.

"And do you remember the time we let Raven stay in her room with another spooky voice? A huge black dragon nearly destroyed the tower. I'm going in, no matter what." Beast Boy wrenched himself from Cyborg's grip.

With a sigh, the cyborg tapped in the manual override and they all stepped into Raven's room. Normally, Robin would be looking around, interested; but now, he had gone into fearless leader mode with bo-staff in hand. "Where is it coming from, Beast Boy?"

"That rusty looking chest. I'm sure of it." Beast Boy edged over to the container nervously. With a burst of courage, he lifted open the lid. The sobbing stopped almost instantly.

Inside was a very ancient looking book. It looked strangely familiar to the changeling, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He had never been one to look closely at one of Raven's books, but— oh god. Beast Boy bared his teeth in anger.

It was Malchior's book.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So, now Cyborg and Beast Boy were sitting in the kitchen, looking at the cover of the book. It was probably a bad idea for them to take it from Raven's room, but they knew that they had to have a "quiet" word with Malchior. Since the assassin was still recovering and Red X had gained their trust, Robin had decided to bring him. Not that the thief knew what was going on.

The common room doors opened, and Robin and Red X walked into the room, discussing something quietly.

Nearing the table, the thief's eyes widened in surprise. "Hey, I know that book."

Beast Boy nearly fell out of his chair. "You know this book?!"

"Yeah. When I was working for the Brotherhood of Evil, one of my first assignments was getting this book out of Titans Tower. Easy task, really."

"Then you know about that betraying scum inside?" hissed the changeling.

"Betraying? Nah, didn't hear about it. The Brotherhood discovered him because of that incident few years past. I didn't see it myself, but I hear that a giant black dragon suddenly appeared out of nowhere and after a long hard battle, the titans finally managed to subdue him. Thinking that this guy might be a valuable ally, the Brotherhood did some research and decided to get him out of the tower. I was the man to do it."

Red X put his finger to his temple, trying to remember what happened. "Well… because of the Brotherhoods lack of magical people, they were only able to lift a bit of the binding spell, allowing the dragon to be a little freer from the book. But he always had to return to it often. Nonetheless, he was a powerful one within the Brotherhood."

"So that explains Malchior's appearance during the final battle with the Brain. But I thought Herald threw him into an alternate dimension. How did he end up in this book again?" Robin was examining the book thoughtfully.

"Rob, you throw an evil wizard/dragon into another dimension and he's gonna come back and bite your ass very soon. They now their way around these things." Commented Cyborg. "So Raven found him and caught him again."

"Not that it would make any difference." Said an icy voice emanating from the book.

The four of them stared at the book. "Dude, I can never get why Raven wouldn't get freaked out by these kind of things."

"I couldn't agree more, BB." Said Cyborg hollowly.

"Shut your mouths and leave me to my self-pity." Snapped the voice, before falling silent.

"Serves you right, Malchior. You betrayed Raven and tore her heart to shreds! Don't you even have the ability to care?" Beast Boy took the book and started to shake it violently.

The book remained silent until the changeling put it down again. "Nice. Now I've thrown up all over page sixty-four." Malchior seemed calm as usual.

They all blinked. "You deserved it." Muttered Beast boy.

"Deserved what? Being locked in a book for a millennium by an arrogant fool of a wizard? Tasting freedom for a few minutes before being locked up again? Trusting that idiot Brotherhood to get my revenge and then getting thrown in here again? And then get shaken up by a changeling till I heave? I did nothing wrong!"

"But Raven—"

"Look Beast Boy, or whatever your name is. When you get locked inside a book for a thousand years, you tend to get impatient with everything. I was a bit overeager, I admit, viewing Raven as a mere tool. When I first met Raven, I thought I finally had a chance to get out; but then I realized how much the girl had to learn. Ten years of training! I was impatient. So what was the only thing I could do? I seduced her. By that small trick, I managed to get her to learn faster than ever, under the power of love. It worked wonders. And then when I got out… I was so caught up in my own cleverness that I literally boasted my trick out to Raven. Naturally, she wasn't pleased, and I suddenly realized that she knew much more than I had taught her." The book glumly fell silent. "You know the rest."

"You're not convincing anyone, Malchior." Snapped Beast Boy. "Raven said that you were called the 'Dread Dragon', and—"

"In my world, all dragons are so called 'evil demons' that are just waiting to eat your children." Replied Malchior, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I was called the dread dragon just because I managed to fend off more knights and wizards who were trying to _kill_ me. Is it a crime to want to stay alive?"

"No." admitted Robin. "But you could still be lying to us."

"Boy, why would I want to lie to you?" moaned Malchior. "I'm trapped in a book, Raven wants me to burn in hell with her father and you four have absolutely no way of getting me out. Why lie?"

"It's logical." Commented Red X.

"Jesus, look at the time! It's four in the morning!" Cyborg stood up and winced. "We can't stay up this late!" He ran back to his room with a rush.

"I agree. And to think that I planned combat practice tomorrow." Robin hurriedly got Red X back to the basement, and left for his own room.

Beast Boy watched his friends leave, surprised that the place had emptied so quickly.

"Hm. Well friend, it's just you and me." The book said wryly.

Beast Boy picked up the book roughly and carried it back to his room, cursing under his breath.

* * *

I'm sorry, I just had to add Malchior! He's an interesting guy, and to make him fit in with the other titans I had to make him a bit less evil. 


	15. Double Escape

"What the hell did you put in that tranquilizer, Robin? It's been three days and Stryke hasn't yet woken up fully!" Red X ran his hands through his black hair with a small sigh. "How are we supposed to question her if she's not even awake?"

Robin grimaced. "Okay, I may have overdosed her slightly. But I didn't know that she had to take this long. It's just not natural."

The four teens were again seated at the table in the middle of the night. It had become a strange habit of theirs that they didn't want to change. And they had already begun to view Red X as a friend.

"Dude, since that's all okay and well for now, why don't we face more important matters? Like this one?" Beast Boy lifted Malchior's book and started waving it around. "This is totally important."

"Robin, I really think that you should wake her up somehow. Are you sure that there is no way around the effects of your tranquilizer?" Red X ignored the changeling, focusing on what was more important to him.

"If there was, I'd have used it by now." Replied Robin. "I want to find Slade as much as you do. But you are sure that Slade has changed his operations base already?"

"Of course I'm sure. Slade has half a dozen hideouts all over the city. Losing one won't hurt. And that's what he does all the time." Red X leaned back into his chair. "I'm one hundred percent sure."

"Okay y'all, I don't know about you but I think that Stryke is the more important subject now. To question her effectively, we need to know about her well. So anyone wanna hear what I got off the Net?" Cyborg shuffled a small stack of paper. "It's not much, but I think it can do."

"But—"

"Beast Boy, the dragon can wait. He won't be able to leave his book until we open it. And we won't ever, unless there's a good reason." Robin patted the book on the table to emphasize his point.

"You don't need to." Answered a calm voice smoothly.

The book suddenly slid out under Robin's fingers and skidded off the table, causing it to land on the floor with a thud. Compared to what all the titans had seen, that was nothing. What horrified them the most was that the drop had caused the book to open.

"Oh no! Somebody shut the book!" screamed Beast Boy as he dived for Malchior's book himself.

"Too late." Replied the dread dragon smugly. As the green titan was blasted away by a burst of dark energy, a shadowy form began rise out of the pages. Only two shining eyes were clearly seen.

"Get him!" yelled Cyborg. His sonic cannon aimed and shot a blast at the tome on the floor. To his horror, a white barrier appeared above it and seemed to block his attack without taking any damage at all.

"Dude, how did he do that?" Beast Boy ducked under a small blast of black energy flying towards him. "And he isn't even at his full power!"

"Let's just say that I've been in that book for a long time." Malchior, now in his familiar fully-recreated paper form, strode off the book. "The dark arts are fascinating, yes, but white magic is also extremely intriguing. Can't help but study two at a time. Care for a demonstration?" The dragon mage pointed a slim finger towards an attacking Boy Wonder almost lazily. Robin yelped and managed to leap away from the wave of silver magic at the last second.

A hand suddenly slapped down on Malchior's head, leaving an X shaped bomb. "Hah!" cried Red X triumphantly. "Sorry draco, but X marks the sp— what the heck?!"

In a flurry of paper, the wizard vanished and appeared right behind Red X. The detonator was nowhere to be seen.

The thief's eyes narrowed. "You want to play teleport, dragon boy? If you do…" With a click, Red X phased out of sight and reappeared at the other side of the room.

"You chose the wrong man."

Twin spinning X blades appeared on his arms with a metallic sound, and with a cry the thief leapt forward.

Glancing calmly at the lethal weapons, the sorcerer simply disappeared, using the same trick as before.

"Is this what fighting me is always like?" commented Red X as he scanned the room for signs of the dragon. Except for the pieces of ancient parchment scattered in various places, there was no sign of Malchior at all.

"Pretty much." Replied Cyborg, who was checking the readings on his arm for any sign of movement. The titans had backed off a little from the battle. No one wanted to be caught in a duel of two teleporters.

"Dude, I thought he had no more xenothium left! Why—"

"Beast Boy, I restocked his belt. He's proven himself." Robin's eyes never left the fight.

"Yes, then I— _holy shit_!" A black beam of crackling energy flew past the spot Red X had been mere seconds ago. "Bad move, draco!" The thief snarled, readied his blades once more and flipped towards his opponent with inhuman speed.

Slashing out with his spinning weapons, he cut off one of Malchior's arms with a swipe of his blades. Landing on his feet, he hid a grin under his makeshift mask. A critical hit at last. There was no way the magician could recover from that strike.

Then to his horror, Malchior looked at him coolly and started to re-grow his lost appendage with surprising swiftness. Seconds later, it was fully recovered. "Mortal." He said quietly.

"Why didn't you tell me about this, chuckles!" Red X groaned and started backing away from the mage step by step.

"How the hell would I know he could do that?" Robin drew his bo-staff and lengthened it. "Listen, I'll try to fight him head on, and you try to catch him by surprise. We've fought tougher villains before, and I'm sure we can take him down one way or another."

"Nice 'plan' birdie, but don't you think that—" the thief's words were cut short by a direct magical strike in the chest. Stumbling back a few steps, Red X grunted in pain before falling to the floor with a dull thump.

"Oh, no." whispered Cyborg.

"Beast Boy, get X to the medical bay. Me and Cyborg will stall him until you rejoin us, understand?"

"Not needed, chuckles."

The three titans looked back at the thief. Red X stood up effortlessly and faced Malchior once more. Cocking his head to the side, X chuckled.

"You're not as powerful as you act, draco. Oh, your little play acting escaped me earlier, but once you tried to hit me…" Slowly, Red X took three X shaped shurikens out of his belt. "I know now that your attacks won't hurt me at all. I was barely wounded from your first attempt. And you can hardly defend yourself effectively, even though you won't show it. The curse is still strong on you."

"Nonsense." Replied the wizard. "Your false belief won't help you."

"Oh yes it will." Laughing wildly, Red X threw out the three projectiles with perfect accuracy, aiming for Malchior's head and chest; and like before, they vanished before they could even touch the dragon. But even the titans could sense that the constant fighting was taking its toll on Malchior.

Red X smirked under his mask. "How long is it going to take for you wave the white flag, draco? I thin— mmph?!"

Robin turned around, and paled. "Stryke!"

"That's right. Put down all your weapons and don't try anything stupid, or X here will have his throat slit." Stryke edged her knife closer to Red X's neck. A large piece of cloth was now covering the thief's entire face, making it impossible for him to see. Somehow his hands were already fastened in a pair of iron-cuff like object as well.

"Now Stryke, don't do anything you'll regret." Robin cautiously moved a bit towards the assassin.

"Stay there and don't move, birdie." The knife pierced Red X's skin slightly, making a line of blood flow down from the small cut. "He's mine."

Red X let out a muffled shout of pain.

"Dude, how did she get her stuff back?" whispered Beast Boy in horror.

"You don't have to do this, Stryke." Robin stopped in his steps, fighting to remain calm. Behind him, Malchior was deep in thought.

"Indeed I don't. I _want_ to." The assassin smirked. "Not that you'd understand."

Opening a window, Stryke leapt out of the tower and disappeared into the shadows with Red X in her arms.

"We've got to stop her! She's getting away!" Beast Boy ran over to the window and tried to see where the assassin went. He didn't succeed.

"No, Beast Boy." Replied Robin wearily. "She has Red X's life in her control. We can't do anything but try to track her tomorrow."

Malchior cocked his head to the side slowly. And to the surprise of all the titans, he stepped back into his book with a sigh.

* * *

Sorry for the late update… I just had a huge test, and I have to prepare for a speech competition thingy at the end of the month. So I'm busy most of the time. 

And truth be told, I didn't enjoy writing this chapter a lot. Plot-mover chaps are kinda hard to insert humor.


	16. Magic Mayhem

"So… those things you said to Raven… you did them only because you were impatient?" Beast Boy lay back down on his back. "That just totally doesn't seem right."

The changeling absentmindedly kicked a few of his uniforms to another part of the room. Robin and Cyborg had gone to track down Slade and Stryke, and they had left Beast Boy in the tower as guard. So naturally, the bored changeling had to find someone to talk to. Pondering over the question of who to chat with, the changeling moments later somehow found himself talking to Malchior. And somehow enjoying it.

The book sniffed. "When you're trapped in a damned book for a thousand years, nothing seems right." Malchior replied coolly. "I did it because I thought it was necessary, and I knew that she did not truly love me. It was merely a 'crush', as people nowadays say. She was too different from all of you, and it was natural for her to find comfort in me."

"You have no idea what you did to her, dude. Raven's strong, and that was one of the few times I nearly saw her break down." Beast Boy glanced at the ancient book next to him. "You still have a lot to answer to."

Malchior let out a dry chuckle. "I've heard that remark many times. This may be the first time I actually did something wrong. And I still have no regrets."

"What about last night?"

"I am sorry for your friend, but what about my original actions? I finally gathered my remaining scraps of energy to move the book when I was inside of it, and you expect me to stay in there till the power fades away? Of course not. So I did the only thing logical; attempt revenge. If I couldn't, escaping was also an option." The voice was silent for a while. "Though I will never _truly_ escape." Added Malchior bitterly.

"Serves you right. The book… what is it like in there?" asked the changeling curiously.

Malchior thought for a few seconds before answering. "A realm of endless darkness, with nothing that can be truly seen. My body and limbs are bound by invisible chains, and I can only let a small portion of my power slip out when the book opens. That is why I was so weak when I tried to defeat your group last night."

"So we were only fighting a part of you?"

"Yes. The wizard who crafted this spell was very skilled in his arts." The dragon laughed lightly. "But his spell still lets me mentally access the ancient tomes and scrolls I am interested in. A silver lining to this black situation, I suppose. But after a millennia of sifting though dusty books, even dragons get impatient with everything."

"Hmm. What was the wizard who did this to you like?"

"A brilliant fool. A contradiction perhaps, but it was the only thing he ever was. He was foolish enough to challenge a dragon with hundreds of years more experience than he, and yet he was brilliant enough to nearly win. Arrogant fool." Malchior laughed again. "Rorek… the brightest of the bright, and the pride of the Wizards of Noll."

"Where is he now?" asked Beast Boy.

The changeling could almost see the smirk on Malchior's face. "Rorek? Ah, he's— wait. I think I hear something." Malchior paused in the middle of his sentence. "It's near. Very near."

Beast Boy laughed. "Dude, what can you hear that I can't? I'm a part animal, remember? For a thousand year old dragon, you don't seem very—"

"AAARRGGHHH!" the scream emanating from the book echoed through the titan's room.

"Dude?"

"OPEN THE GODSDAMNED BOOK! NOW!" shrieked the dragon, seemingly in great pain.

"You think I'm that dumb? I won't fall for your tricks again. Jeez, after talking for this long, you'd think that you were actually a not so bad a guy; but I was wrong, as it seems now." Continued the changeling.

"DAMN IT! OPEN THE BOOK, OR I SHALL PERSONALLY TEAR YOUR FILTHY SOUL TO SHREDS!"

"That was harsh, dude. And watch your language. Mmm, people said 'damn it' a thousand years ago?"

"YOU IDIOTIC LITTLE—" The words were cut off yet again by a hoarse shout of pain from Malchior.

"Oo-er. Dude? Is everything alright in there? Or are you just acting? Dude?" Beast Boy twitched his ears and pressed them against the book. Nothing. The book was strangely silent.

"Ah. Well, against my better judgment…" Beast Boy cautiously opened the book, smelling in the strong scent of old parchment. _Robin is going to kill me for doing this__…_ The changeling kept his hand on the cover, ready to snap it shut at a moment's notice. Yes, he knew now knew that chatting with the dragon was a wrong decision in the first place. But Malchior had a charming personality, and Beast Boy had found it hard to stop their talk. And now the wizard had probably tricked him into letting him escape again.

At this thought, the titan closed the book again. "Nah. Too risky."

A blast of white energy burst out from the book, completely catching Beast Boy off his guard and throwing him across the room. As he open his eyes blearily, he saw something he did not want to see.

A whirlwind of paper suddenly formed above the book, slowly shaping into a human figure. Beast Boy growled. "Damnit!" he swore. Without Robin and Cyborg, it would be impossible for him to stop Malchior like they did last night. Raven and Starfire were currently fast asleep in their rooms. _Oh, what the hell am I going to do? This is a complete nightm__—_

Then the changeling noticed something strange.

Saying Malchior was not his usual self was an understatement. His parchment formed body looked like it had gone through a war. Some parts of his body resembled tissue paper that had just been removed from the washing machine. To top it all off, there were smoking burn marks everywhere on his limbs and face.

"Dude! What happened to you?" exclaimed the green titan. Malchior could do nothing but point feebly to his book.

"Wha--?" Beast Boy backed away as a female figure leapt out of the book as well and made its way toward the dragon, taking one slow step at a time. Malchior tried to crawl away, but was stopped by a foot placed on his neck. Through the smoke that was slightly clouding the room, the only thing that the changeling could see on the attacker was long, white hair.

"For years I have searched for you, worm…" hissed the young woman staring down at Malchior. "And now you are going to taste the pain you have inflicted on my brother…"

"Brother?" croaked the dragon. For the first time, Beast Boy saw fear in Malchior's eyes.

"Brother." Answered the white haired girl coldly, as she whipped out a dagger that was softly glowing with silver light. Swiftly, she brought the blade down.

"Wait! Wait!" Malchior cried out. Narrowing his eyes, he looked closely at the woman standing over her. "You— you know Rorek, don't you?"

"Knew!" Spat out the girl. "It's because of you that my brother died! They never found his body!"

"Ah…That is because he lived." Voice again becoming the calm, arrogant tone Beast boy knew so well, Malchior's colorless eyes stared back into the girl's own. "But before I tell you of his whereabouts, understand that his misfortune was his own doing."

The changeling frowned. Was that a forced calmness that he had heard within Malchior's voice?

"Speak and spare me your riddles." Ordered the girl, tapping the dragon's neck with the knife. White sparks flew from her fingertips.

If Malchior's form had a mouth, he would have smiled grimly. "He's in there." Eyes widening tauntingly, he laughed and ran a hand over his ancient book. "With me."

"Dude! You mean that there's another wizard guy in there? That doesn't make sense!" Beast Boy threw his hands in the air. "All this stuff is making my head hur—"

Beast Boy yelped and was hurled across the room by a wave of white energy. His bed and belongings quickly buried him and he was barely able to breathe. Even worse, he couldn't risk shapeshifting in these conditions as he might crush his body or tear himself apart. So the only thing he could do was listen. But he could sense that he wasn't going to last for long.

"Oh, my lady Rzena! You wouldn't expect me to stand to be cursed by a wizard and yet do nothing about it, would you?" Malchior chuckled. "I simply used his spell and reversed it as well as I could, given the circumstances. However, mere wizards were not originally intended for this spell, and your dear Rorek suffered greatly."

Malchior was silenced by a prod of the silver dagger.

"That will be your doing, Malchior. And if any slightest harm came to him, you'll wish that you were never born."

Malchior simply arched his eyebrows and opened his book to page 362.

Rvena gasped. On this torn page was the face of Rorek. The icy blue eyes glared out of the book fiercely, as if the sorcerer were confronting a vicious enemy.

"Touch the page." Whispered Malchior. "Feel his presence within."

"I don't need to." Hissed Rvena. "What have you done to him?"

"Nothing more but leech on his life force repeatedly so he never awakened from his slumber." Replied Malchior smugly. "For more than a thousand years, he's been trapped in his own dreams. A punishment fitting for a fool like him."

The dagger tore a thin gash across Malchior's cheek.

"A torture soon to be ended. You, on the other hand, will never escape." The sorceress placed her slim fingers upon the page and concentrated.

Softly, Rvena began to chant in a language that Beast Boy had never heard before. Tracing her fingers along the parchment, she suddenly stabbed out with her enchanted dagger.

Beams of pure light shot out from the newly created hole in the book, making shadows swirl in spirals around the ancient tome. Parchment and shreds of torn paper flew around the room in a frenzy, spinning like leaves on a windy autumn night. Reaching in with difficulty, the sorceress pulled out a limp form out of the ripped paper.

Rorek of Noll. It was unmistakable. His hair was the same silvery white, and his enchanted breastplate shone as brightly as ever. The lower part of his face was still covered by the rough black scarf that the wizard wore at all times.

"Rorek…" Rvena lifted the wizard's head. "Gods, what have you gone through?"

"Nothing more than what I've gone through." A sly voice commented from the corner of the room.

Beast Boy twisted his head enough to poke out of the pile of debris. What he saw shocked him.

It was Malchior. But not the Malchior that he was familiar with.

A black haired version of Rorek with blood red eyes stepped out of the shadows. Examining his hands, Malchior smiled, revealing unnaturally long fangs.

"Binding spells work two ways, my sweet." Malchior chuckled to himself and stretched his arms. "It is not possible that you knew of this, but still, I thank you for your helping hand, and your gracious gift of freedom."

With a flick of his slim wrist, Rvena was bound up in glowing binds and flung to the far side of the room, where she was immediately knocked unconscious.

"To think that I actually feared you in the start." The dragon commented absentmindedly. Scanning the room with a smirk, he turned around to deal with a business that he should have been finished centuries ago.

Except the wizard was gone.

Jaw dropping in surprise, Malchior ducked just in time to avoid a blast of white magic that vaporized the wall behind him instantly. Whipping himself around to face the attacker, he snarled like the dragon he really was.

"Rorek." The dragon hissed.

"Malchior." Rorek replied with a glare.

"It's been a long time, wizard." Malchior grew calm again and started to circle his enemy, pace by pace. Rorek did so in return.

"Yes indeed. Long enough for you to keep me under your claw and make a revolting imitation of my body." Rorek's hands were glowing a brilliant silver.

"It was the only choice I had." Malchior shook his head in mock-sadness. "You don't know how it pained me to masquerade around as a buffoon I really knew you to be—"

A fork of white lightning flashed through the room, catching Malchior in the chest and flinging him bodily into a wall. Grunting in pain, he managed to form a black barrier with his will to protect him from the barrage of attacks that followed.

Rorek laughed tauntingly and mimicked Malchior's frantic gestures. That was more than the dragon could bear.

Baring his teeth in anger, Malchior's red eyes suddenly flashed a bright crimson, and he leapt across the room as silent as death itself. Darkness swirled around him like a cloak.

Rorek's palms glowed white in answer.

As the two age old enemies met in close combat, the action was quite epic and dramatic. The whole scene literally screamed World of Warcraft level 70 player versus player combat. But the effect was overall spoiled by the stream of curses that burst from both sides of the duel.

"Maggot infested worm!" screamed Rorek as he slashed out with his glowing fingers.

"White haired freak!" Shot back Malchior, who blocked the blow and cut downwards with the edge of his shadow-sharpened palm.

"Scale rotted lizard!"

"Spoiled ape!"

"Fewmet creator!"

A large figure stepped into Beast Boy's room in a hurry. "Hey Beast Boy! Man, we found Red—_what the fuck is happening in here?_" Cyborg watched in shock as he watched the almost identical two wizards lash out at each other with lethal attacks enough to cripple Cinderblock with a single blow. "BB! BB!"

"Cyborg? What's goin— _holy __shit!_" Robin lowered his head just in time to save his life. A gaping hole smoked in the door frame above him.

"BB? Where are you?" The half machine threw the unconscious body of Red X over to the Boy Wonder beside him, and Robin caught it by reflex. "BB!"

A hacking cough answered him from under a huge pile of debris.

"BB!" Cyborg started to sift through the large objects with his inhuman strength, and he finally found the changeling's limp, gasping form on the ground. "If you die on me, I swear I'm going to kill you myself!"

"I'll do that myself."

Malchior stopped in mid-attack. Cyborg stopped in mid-stoop. Rorek stopped in mid-block. Beast Boy stopped in mid-breath. Robin stared nervously up at the ceiling, and tried not to look at the wrecked room, the thief lying unconscious on the floor, and the two struggling wizards.

"Sweet Raven?" asked an aghast Malchior as he began to back off towards the nearest window.

"Rae?" coughed Beast Boy.

"Raven?" Robin and Cyborg said hollowly.

Rorek glanced around at the horrified faces around him and finally, with a shaking hand, waved nervously at the seething empath.

--------------------------------------------------------

Thought I'd leave it at that… I can't write much more. It is definitely the longest chapter that I've ever typed, past, present, and most probably future. Because of this story's style, every chapter has to be completely about what happened in one night. And yeah, this is about it.

You won't believe how much I was tortured by this chapter. Due to the unique nature of this fic, everything has to happen fast or not happen at all. My apologies to those who think that introducing two new characters in one chapter is way to fast. I just can't fix it right. The rapid changing of writing styles doesn't help much either.

Oh, and Rorek has had a slight personality change. Mainly because it would be way too boring with two Malchiors strutting around. Because Rorek has not really ever been introduced (except for the story in Mal's book; and we all know that Malchior could of changed the whole story), I thought that it'd be fun to make him a funnier sort of guy.

Ah, and you'll find out what happened to the boys in the next chapter. MUHAHAHA!


	17. Midnight Mage Talks

"Great. Damn great. What in hells name did you do to get her so furious in the past, Malchior?"

"Shut up, Rorek. I don't want to speak to you unless absolutely necessary."

"Malchior, you got ourselves locked in this book again and you say it's not absolutely necessary? What did you do to that half-demon girl? Bed her by accident?"

"You say one more word, wizard, and I'll make sure you won't be able to bed anyone at all in the future."

"You filthy dragon… she was the one who sealed you into this book for the second time, wasn't she? That was why she managed to trap us so easily in so short a time… remind me to kill you in the future. Oh… if we have a future!"

"I like you better when you were unconscious, inside the dark depths of the pages. You never talked."

"You will tell me what went on in the past!"

"Hn." Replied Malchior.

"You do know what I'm capable of doing to you, right? If my memories are true, I was the one who struck the final blow on your miserable hide."

"And I dragged you in, imprisoning you and keeping you as the fount of my power for over a millennium. You know inside of your mind who the true victor is."

"I… I… a draw, then?"

"Hn." Was the answer again from the irritated black dragon.

"But why were we imprisoned so swiftly? I am fairly confident of my skills, and I know for a fact that no normal sorcerer could have sealed you in this book in a matter of seconds."

"You don't know? And you call yourself a spellcaster?"

"Enlighten me, then."

"When that girl arrived, we were still bound to the book strongly, as we escaped the tome a few mere minutes before. It was ridiculously easy to push us back in. On top of that, she was at the height of her power, while we ourselves were at our weakest due to our little duel."

"Ah… wait, she was at the height of her power? Why?"

"You don't know how the power of demons work, do you? Stronger emotions mean more power."

"And that means…"

"We were royally screwed! But enough of that! If you really were the brightest wizard in the history of your school, you will find us a way to get out of this place!"

"Tch. It's not as simple as 'Open Sesame', you know. Having the bindings reversed on us, we—"

"Then once again, we are stuck here for all eternity. I think we should reintroduce ourselves. Greetings, I'm the evil black dragon Malchior and I hate your guts!"

"We have something in common there." Muttered the mage.

"Shut up. I really want to crawl to the corner and cry. Fresh air… when will I ever meet you again?"

"…"

"…"

Silence.

"…You want to play hangman?"

Malchior's right eyelid twitched. Several times.

"You really do want to die, wizard."

--Several hours later…--

"A 'G'?"

"Nope. Guess again, dragon."

" 'F'?"

"You're about to get hanged, you know."

"Can't we play a more civilized game? Like chess?"

"Sorry, but unless you can conjure up chess pieces that _don't _explode with extreme magical power, this will have to do. We do have an endless supply of scrap paper, after all."

"…I hate you."

--Several more hours later…--

"… after that, she went berserk and sealed me up again. All that sweet talk all for naught. You wouldn't even imagine how frustrated I was. Posing as a perfect gentleman for more than a week, I tell you! Do you know how hard that is?"

"Well actually, you didn't have to be a gentleman. Just the whole 'Dark magician sealed in a book' thing is attractive enough. Especially if the sealing was done when fighting big, evil dragons."

"…really?"

"You don't seem like you've been near girls, Malchior. Have you ever actually dated one?"

"Well, there was that sapphire blue dragon that I fawned over when I was a hatchling."

"Ha! Nothing compared to me. When I was little…"

--Tick, tock, tick, tock…--

"… and that's when I realized I had a fetish for girls with undeveloped bodies." Finished Rorek with a grin.

Malchior was now thoroughly pale. Listening to the magician's stories was extremely traumatizing. The dragon doubted that he could even sleep tonight.

"That so?" he said in a shaky voice.

"Aye. So after that, I decided to launch a secret research campaign to—"

"Gyaaahh! Stop it!"

"—discover the wonders of the opposite sex…"

--Time marches on…--

"… I'm bored out of my mind. The bindings this time are so tight that I can't even play with my spells much." Grumbled Malchior.

"…Hangman?"

"I'd rather not." Replied the dragon icily.

--And on…--

"… you know about that cherry stem test?"

"Aye!" answered Rorek proudly. "On my first try, I managed a double knot and a bowline."

"Is that even remotely possible?"

"Friend, if I had a bowl of cherries, I could construct a miniature version of the Tower of Pride with the knotted stems."

"How… fascinating."

--And on…--

"Okay. I don't care anymore. RAVEN, I'M SORRY!! I BEG YOU, ON BENDED KNEE, TO LET ME OUT!!" The dragon screamed at the top of his lungs.

" 'Us', you mean." Rorek said absentmindedly, picking at his nails.

"Frankly, I couldn't care less." Malchior shot back.

The wizard ignored the remark, raising his fingers to the light and examining them. "Speaking of which, where is my sister? I remember that she was outside when we were sealed."

"Still alive. I think the Titans told her about us, from what I've gleaned from the little I can hear. She doesn't seem to be happy about the entire thing."

"Surprise, surprise."

"Quite a thing, your sister. Nearly tore my head off with that knife of hers."

"The evil get what they deserve, eh?"

"I'm nearing the end of my patience. For the last time, Rorek, be quiet. I think I need to meditate."

"I don't really get it. You were here for over a thousand years and you can't stand a few hours?"

"It's because of these goddamn bindings… and you! You are disrupting my normally peaceful life, and the silence that comes with it! If I had full grasp of my magic…"

"Want to go onto round two?"

"Without magecraft? Sure thing."

Rorek settled into a graceful stance, and smiled wolfishly. Malchior's fingers lengthened, then sharpened into claws.

Without skipping a beat, they pounced at each other.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So… you want to let them out of the book, even for a little while?" asked Cyborg, holding the ancient tome gingerly as if it contained a deadly virus.

"Couldn't hurt. They're sealed up nice and tight, according to Raven. It'd be hard for them to even take more than five steps from the book." Answered the resident traffic light of Titan's Tower.

"Couldn't hurt to be careful." Said Beast Boy in a muffled voice, his face covered in bandages.

"I agree with friend Beast Boy." Starfire was looking at the book as if she wanted to blast it apart.

"Yeah, but we need to know what's happening, and hear from themselves their situation. I don't like it either, but it must be done. Besides, Red X has disappeared again and we might as well solve this problem first."

"If you want to do it, do it now. I'm starting to feel a little faint from the glares." Whispered Cyborg.

"I heard that." Murmured a cold voice.

Beast Boy and Robin stiffened as they felt their neck hairs prickle up from the pure hostility emanating from the two female sorceresses behind them.

"It was your fault. If you hadn't opened that book—" whispered the boy wonder.

"—Malchior would have died, and Rorek would have remained asleep forever!"

"And we would be safe from being blasted into god knows where!"

Beast Boy groaned. "Dude, just open the book."

Cyborg hesitated, then opened it.

It went as expected. A dramatic flurry of ancient parchment, a magical torrent of wind, and then the gradual forming of the two mages.

What _didn't_ go as expected, was that the two were both on the ground, holding onto each other and panting hard. Rorek's armor and clothes were nearly all torn into shreds, while Malchior's hair was rumpled and shirt half undone.

The worst part, was the duo didn't seem to notice that they were already out in the open.

"That was the most fun I've had in ages." Breathed Malchior, and let his head fall beside Rorek's ear.

"I on the other hand, didn't know that you were so viciously delightful." Rorek panted back, and relaxed his hands.

"Oh, no no no. You were the delightful one. I had enjoyed it only because it was you."

"Ready for round three?"

"Always asking for more, aren't you?"

Several readers died of slash overdose on the other side of the screen.

Beast Boy screamed in agony. "My virgin eyes!"

Robin remained stone faced. But the shaking of his left foot betrayed him. "Quite… disturbing." He managed to splutter out.

Cyborg… well, they _think _he short-circuited. But seeing the amount of smoke coming out of his ears, it was probably something much worse.

"The ritual of Krifgargle!" exclaimed Starfire in delight.

Raven had her hood back on and no one could see her expression… but it _seemed_ that she was trying to stop a nosebleed.

Rvena was muttering an evil sounding language under her breath.

Malchior and Rorek looked up from their positions on the floor and blinked.

"How rude. They interrupted us."

"Indeed. Haven't they heard of knocking?"

"What if we were doing something that—"

"Oh shut up, the both of you!" howled Robin, and he literally stuffed them back into the book where they belonged.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a year of absence, I am back. I apologize to any readers who have supported me in the past, and hope that you forgive me. After all, a year is a long time.

As repayment, I'll see if I can get this done by this week. If I can, that is…

Please tell me what you guys think!


	18. Unlikely Encounters in Unlikely Places

"We've got a lot more important things to do."

"I know."

"We've got a lot of things to talk about. All of us."

"I know."

Cyborg looked around to see if any of the other Titans were listening to their conversation. Then, he took in a deep breath, and let it out.

"Dude… then why the hell are we here for pizza?!"

Robin sighed and turned to the Cybernetic teen. "We're stressed, we're exhausted and we're confused about what's happening. We have three magicians under our care, two of which are sealed in a book, while the other one is still trying to adapt to our lifestyle. And above all, we know that Slade is planning something."

"Exactly!"

"So, we need to calm down. Unwind ourselves, and think of what we should do. And what better way to do that than pizza?" reasoned Robin.

Cyborg looked at Robin closely.

"Well, what I'm about to say is cliché and all… but who are you and where have you taken Robin? Y'know, the paranoid leader who could stay up for seventy-two hours tracing nonexistent clues?"

"He died a few weeks ago of suffocation. Rumor has it that he was drowned by paperwork." Robin replied dryly. "Seriously, Cyborg, I've changed. The talks helped me a bit, and I can somewhat see what I've been doing wrong in the past."

"Really?" grinned Beast Boy as he edged over towards his friend.

"Really." Answered Robin with a small smile. He then turned his gaze to the three girls across the table, talking about something supposedly more serious.

Cyborg rolled his eyes and whispered in the changeling's ear, "Yeah. But it may be due to the fact that Red X had disappeared _again_ and he's trying to forget about his 'incompetence'."

"Hmm, Dude, you're right. He does do that sometimes."

"Hey guys? I can hear you from here, you know." Said Robin, annoyed.

Cyborg laughed. "C'mon, Rob, you know it wasn't your fault. Red X can always enter or exit a building at will. He's one of the best, after all. But what I can't forgive…" his face turned stony. "… is that he toasted my entire security system just for the fun of it!"

Robin stood up suddenly. "What? You mean that the tower security is off-line?"

Cyborg grinned. "No worries there. I patched the whole thing up this morning, and added some other gadgets. In other words, it's repaired and updated to the very edge of technology."

Robin sat down, relieved. Beast Boy chuckled.

"Robin, just trust Cy. He knows what he's doing. Most of the time."

"BB, it would have been a nice compliment if you had—"

"No! Please, not me! I'm not doing it!" shouted a panicked voiced a few tables from them.

"Come on, Jason. It's not that hard. They're just heroes!"

"I just can't! I… I…"

"Don't be scared, son. The only people who need to be scared of them are villains, eh? Besides, it's time that I give you some reward for the excellent work you do every day you're here."

The three titans turned and looked at what was happening behind them. From what they saw and heard. It seemed as if the manager was convincing one of his 

workers to hand them their orders. Like any other civilian, he seemed to be frightened to have an encounter with Jump cities biggest celebrities. But due to the constantly moving throngs of people, they couldn't catch a glimpse of his face.

"Boss, I just—"

"C'mon, son." The manager laughed heartily. "It's an order."

With a groan, the reluctant employee dragged his steps as he made his way over to the Titan's table. For _some_ reason, he was covering his face.

"Triple Meat-Lovers Delight and Vegetarian with Tofu Topping." He muttered in a muffled voice. After placing the pizzas on the table, he quickly started to shuffle away.

"Dude… I know this guy." Whispered Beast Boy. "I remember smelling him somewhere a few days ago."

Something began to beep frantically on Cyborg's arm. He frowned as he looked at the readings. "Guys, my equipment is suddenly sensing massive traces of Xenothium."

"That hunch of his shoulders… he knows us personally and is looking somewhat guilty." Robin observed.

A name "pinged!" into all of their minds.

Before the man could start running for safety, a slimy tentacle was wrapped tightly around his leg, unnoticed by the other diners. Slowly, he was dragged to the Titan's table.

"So good to see you here, X." remarked Cyborg with an evil grin. "It seems that you did a little something to my Tower last night."

"Would you mind telling us why you're here?" asked Robin with a raised eyebrow. "We went through hell to get you, and you know it. And now we find you here, in all places?"

"Hey, dude! Long time no see!" waved Beast Boy with a good natured smile, his hands now back to normal.

Red X gulped. He had known that this would happen someday, but he didn't think that it would have happened so godsdamned soon! His skin was at stake here, and if he didn't do something soon…

"It's not going to be pretty if we talk about it here." He mumbled, motioning to the female Titans, who thankfully had not noticed their little scene. It must be a very important topic for them to talk about indeed.

Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other.

"Men's room."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ah, now this is going to get interesting." A voice commented.

"More interesting than what we're doing here?" another person asked in a low voice.

"Not now, Rorek. I am interested in what that thief has to say. So let us postpone our game until later."

"A vow that will not be broken?"

"Yes, a vow that will never be broken." Replied Malchior.

Inside the darkness of Beast Boys backpack, the dragon listened intently from inside his prison of parchment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So… you're telling us that you worked here almost since the forming of the Titans?" asked Robin, aghast.

The four of them sat in a single cubicle in the restroom, crowded around a toilet. It 

was cramped, yes, but it was the best hiding place in the restaurant.

"Yeah, Boy Blunder. It was near my school, I needed a job (how else would I explain away that plasma screen television and those huge stereos?), so I worked here. Normally I keep away when you come, but today was just…" Red X sighed. "Bad luck, I guess. That and the fact that you guys saw my face a few weeks ago."

"All that time…" whispered Cyborg.

"Just right under our noses…" finished Robin in a miserable tone. It was hard to tell under that mask, but he seemed to be close to tears.

"Dude! I never knew you worked in Pizza Plaza!" Beast Boy didn't seem to notice the rapidly darkening expressions of his fellow Titans.

"Then why did you run yesterday night?" asked Cyborg, who had apparently collected himself better than Robin. Said Boy Wonder was looking into the toilet bowl as if he wanted to drown himself in it.

"I had nothing to do with you guys anymore. So I rode off into the sunset. Of course, not before I fried your entire system." Red X smirked slightly.

"Why you little punk—"

Beast Boy held back the metal teen before he could leap forward and strangle the thief. "Cy, chill!"

"Last time I checked, X, getting caught working in a pizza shop is definitely not categorized in the 'riding off into the sunset' section." Robin shifted his gaze to the thief's direction. "Now what about that assassin, Stryke?"

Red X laughed nervously. "Heh, now that's the funny part, you see. Normally I wouldn't tell anyone about this, but I'll make an exception this time with you three."

"We feel honored. So, what happened?"

"She was… _is_… my girlfriend."

Three pairs of eyes blinked at the same time. "After she tried to kill you or before?" asked Cyborg, disbelief in his voice.

"Before." Replied Red X, his eyes fixed onto the blue tiles on the washroom floor.

"But you said—"

"Yes, I said that I hadn't met her before!" barked out Red X. "How was I to know that my nice, sweet, gentle girlfriend in school would put on a plastic facemask at night and begin to chase ruthlessly after little old me?! Saying that they're absolutely different would be an understatement!"

"A plastic facemask? Why did we miss it?" Robin swiveled around on his teammates, eyes blazing. "Who did the checkups on her?"

Cyborg twitched slightly. Robin's eyes flared, and the cybernetic teen fought the urge to run out of the cubicle, lest he face much more training courses in the future.

Beast Boy thought back to that night X's mask broke in front of Stryke's eyes. Shock, disbelief, realization… and then, something close to _admiration_.

"She found about me that night, too." Muttered the thief.

"Did Slade plan this?" asked Robin.

"Even he can't be this much of a planner." Replied Cyborg hollowly.

"So, what happened next?" asked the changeling.

"After she took me back home with a dagger across my throat, she peeled the mask off and started the longest lecturing I have ever heard. About how extremely careless I was being, how much of an arrogant fool I was, about _how I held knives wrong_…

"I feel sorry for you, man." Cyborg patted the thief on the shoulder.

"You should. And then, after a while, you two showed up."

"Cy and Rob?"

"Yeah." Muttered Robin. "We tracked the Xenothium. Do you know how many traps we encountered before we even stepped to her door? I counted, and it was around twenty. All of them potentially deadly, and all of them crafted out of seemingly harmless objects. Can you imagine my surprise when I found out afterwards that a broom hurtling towards me was actually a bangstick in disguise?"

"So you raided her room, somehow defeated her, and took Red X away?" Beast Boy shook his head. "What a night."

Robin nodded tiredly. "She got away. Red X's right. She's a formidable opponent."

"Understatement, chuckles. She's the scariest thing I've ever seen. There's nothing like her." A flash of horror entered the thief's eyes, but was quickly replaced with something… else. "Nothing like her."

"Huh. Well, happened next was as you all know it. Red X decided, as the threat was over, that he goes away whistling from Titan's Tower as if nothing happened. And the parting gift was the various smoking consoles throughout our home."

Cyborg shot a glare at the thief. X looked back, unfazed.

"Dudes… is it just me, or have things gotten more and more insane since we began our midnight boy talks?" Said Beast Boy.

"Grass stain, it was never sane in the first place." Replied Cyborg with a groan.

And as if to confirm his words, the largest explosion they had ever heard suddenly rocked the entire building.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nearing the last chapter! I'm trying as hard as I can to pump it out!

Please review and tell me what you think!


End file.
